The World's a Piano
by MinaMonet
Summary: After a small mishap in the Swiss house, Vash and Lilli moved into the Austrian home for a short stay.
1. A Rough Morning

Morning sun peeked behind the off white curtains of the Swiss-man's home. Light bounced around the room in waves, streaking the floor and walls with an early morning sunshine. A bright beam lay across his green eyes, shut tight for another moment of rest. The distant humming of Liechtenstein down the hall kept him from further rest.

With a soft grumbling sigh, he sat up straight, tangles of short blonde hair swaying slightly to his movement. It would be another long day of diplomatic relations, one he did not look forward to.

Moving from the bed, a restless Switzerland approached the closet doors and drew them aside. He looked through his wardrobe lazily, quickly growing tired of the endless waves of green he possessed. He took hold of his double breasted jacket and usual military style pants and moved back to the bed. Sitting perpendicular to the head board of his bed were his black boots, neatly placed together in an orderly fashion. They were clean of dirt; his sister had taken care of that for him. Usually he wished she didn't concern herself with those sorts of things so much, but it was nice to be above the others at the world conference with clean and polished shoes.

He dressed in silence, unbuttoning the blue tinted pajama shirt and folding it on his bed. He slipped off the matching bottoms and laid them beside the shirt before he moved to his clothes of the day. He pulled his pants on, one leg at a time and buttoned them. He glanced around for his belt, but when he looked to his dresser; his eyes fell upon a small package. It was wrapped in a pearl colored paper, and held a nearly indistinct shape. Dear, sweet, Liechtenstein. She'd never learn. He wasn't much for gifts.

Shaking his head, jacket still lying on the bed beside his night clothes, Vash moved over and picked up the package. It was soft, and the tissue paper tore slightly at his very touch. The deep blue ribbon held still as he took hold of the small package. It was beautifully wrapped, as always. He wasn't sure he wanted to open it, he hated gifts, especially when dear Lilli did it so often, but he always felt guilty if he didn't open it, she had worked hard on it. Head hanging slightly, he slowly pulled the ribbon cord and placed it on the dresser top. His fingers moved the tissue paper aside to reveal the pale pink shirt.

His face brightened a hundred shades of red and he looked down at what he was wearing already. Knowing Liechtenstein, she'd intended such a gift for a world meeting, she wouldn't have given it to him then if she didn't, but he was embarrassed to even consider pink in front of those buffoons. He could just imagine that American's laughter, or the evil stares of a certain Austrian. No, he would not wear Lilli's gift to the world meeting, he'd find another time to wear it and make her happy.

Step by step he walked back to the bed and set the new shirt beside his night clothes. He took the dark green jacket off the coat hanger and pulled it on, left arm then right. He followed with a pair of socks that was sitting in his shoes before he pulled the black boots on. They were contoured to his foot after so many years of wear. He loved those shoes; they were the one particularly consistent thing from day to day. When he was constantly dealing with world issues at ludicrous meetings surrounded by crazies like Austria and Poland, well, that wasn't a consistency to count on.

Dressed for success, or so they said, Vash ran a quick comb through his tangled mess of blonde before heading into the hall. His black leather boots made a sound almost like a quiet sloshing as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. The distinct aroma of fresh baked bread wafted through the kitchen and breakfast nook where little Liechtenstein sat, quietly working on her cross stitching. There was a piece of warm bread on a plate in front of her, a dab of butter spread across it with a bit mark in the corner.

Vash sat across from her, taking a tart off the tiered lazy Susan in the middle of the table as well as a piece of the fresh cut baked bread beside it. He ate quickly and quietly, occasionally looking across to Lilli as she moved between eating and sewing. Their breakfast was particularly quiet, just the way Vash preferred it.

With one particular glance to his 'sister,' he spotted a smudge of butter at the corner of her lip. A sigh on his lips, the blonde young man took the napkin from his lap and leaned across the table to wipe the food away. There was a pink tint in his cheeks as he sat back and he coughed into his closed hands as if dissuading any unnecessary discussion about it. In the moment of distraction, Liechtenstein pricked her finger with the needle, a single red drop of blood running down onto her hand.

Vash nearly panicked at the sight of his precious sister bleeding, and it only made it worse to see her lick it clean and suck on the wound. What if it got infected? It would be his fault for distracting her and not stopping her! He couldn't bare such a though, and immediately took her hand in his, holding her finger in the napkin to clean off the blood. It had already stopped it's bleeding, but it didn't ease his thoughts and he tore a small strip of white fabric off the corner of the napkin. He tied it around her finger in a small knot before handing her hand back.

With a shake of his head, the Swiss man ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "Be a bit more careful Lilli. You'll be home alone today; you know how much that bothers me already."

The young girl nodded and stared at the bow tied on her finger. It was a curious thing, how he worried about such little things, but it was quite precious to consider. He really had nothing to worry about; she was always good while he was out at world meetings. At one time she might have gone with him, but lately he'd been asking her to stay home, something about the dangers of France stealing her innocence. It didn't matter much to her whether she went or not, but it was a little odd to imagine Switzerland sitting beside an empty seat where she should be.

A few feet away, a small hand crafted cuckoo clock chirped, signaling nine in the morning. Time for the headache of the other countries to begin.


	2. The World Conference

Inside the rotunda room, stood a collection of rounded wood table pieces fitted together into one large piece. Around it sat a conglomerate of intermingled countries, some laughing, some arguing, some shaking in fear of the one that sat beside them, but each and everyone seemed distracted by something or another. They were a motley crew, the crew gathered in that room, and every one of them was a painful headache to the blonde haired Swiss man.

Standing before the wide double doors, Vash massaged his temples with one hand while the other rested on the seam between the doors. There wasn't much preparing that could be done before a world conference, nothing eased the annoyance of some idiots, like France who obsessed over his paintings, or Italy who spent more time making pasta or white flags than conversing in worldly matters. Sometimes it seemed as though the only country who had a head for business like Vash was Germany, and even then such a thing could be a far cry for a man who related himself so deeply in root to the crazy Italian. Yet, for some stupid reason, he continued to attend, insanely wishing for the situation to change. Then again, was that not the definition of insanity in the first place? He'd rather not consider it.

Sucking in a long and nervous breath, the blonde young man entered the boisterous room and took his seat, avoiding a scene while the others progressed into madness. For the moment, America was trying to convince them all that the best way to stop an impending meteor shower was to build a giant robot. Sounded about like America, and of course, when England killed that idea he moved on to a giant hamburger to act as a cushion for all the meteors, and then he continued to announce that his Roswell division would scout for aliens. Like that was the least bit realistic, but it was about the best idea being offered up lately. Germany suggested launching missiles at it, which was then countered with the argument that they could miss and hit someone else. Of course, China fronted that counter argument. Italy was voting for the hamburger idea, but offered up the option of a giant pasta bowl instead, which only made the more serious countries grunt and groan, including Switzerland.

Across the table from Vash sat Austria, with his wiry hair and a typically nasty looking Hungary standing behind him. She was always a bit creepy, the way she kept kitchen utensils available at all times to throw at them, and it didn't help that she had an obvious crush on the man she stood behind. There were many countries that wouldn't let that fly; most of them were not in support of any of Hungary's ideas at all. The greatest opposition was from Prussia, but of course he no longer bothered with world conferences since his brother started making frequent appearances in his place. There were days when Vash would kill to have that albino boy in the room; it would get that touchy little brat off of his least favorite Austrian.

"Is there something wrong Vash?" Elizavetta asked from behind Austria. She looked unusually smug over there, but perhaps that was just the fact that she had a frying pan in hand and was dressed abnormally in her war clothes instead of her normal long skirt and top. For once she looked more like a country instead of Austria's maid, but no doubt she did that just to bother him. No, that wasn't the reason, the only reason anyone cared to bother Vash was for money, and there was no money between them.

"I'm fine." The Blonde grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in the chair slightly. He tried to get comfortable like that, like settling in for a storm, but he sat upright again quickly, realizing he must have looked extremely uncivilized, unlike Austria, which just wouldn't do. He had to beat Roderich at everything, proper impressions included. Not that he couldn't beat Austria at just about everything, Roderich was just a pansy who sat around playing his instruments all day; he clearly wasn't a very skilled country in the art of war.

Out of the corner of his eye, Vash could already see the Hungarian girl fuming about such a comment. No doubt she'd been expecting more of a response from the melancholy country, even if it was extensive and depressing, she probably hadn't expected him to just sit back and pout silently. She should have expected it, that was typical of Vash after all, but apparently the girl who fought wars with kitchen utensils had little in the way of common sense.

"You don't have anything else to say? You couldn't at least ask me in return?" she responded, gritting her teeth as if she struggled against her motherly instincts to teach proper manners verses just smacking him upside the head. Clearly she felt the need to be motherly and teach, but she was suppressing an apparent urge to just pull out the cook ware.

"If I asked anything in return, that would give the impression that I cared, and frankly, that would be a lie." Vash muttered in response once more before turning his gaze away from her and to the chalk board that Russia had produced in hopes of arguing his own point on the current meteor shower discussion. Drawn on it were a conglomerate of circles of varying sizes, all with wide tails and little smiley faces drawn on them. Vash forced himself to the assumption that these were poorly drawn meteors, but to his dismay his thought was disproved by the sight of a burgundy haired Italian writing the words 'spaghetti and meatballs' as a caption beneath it. Oh the idiocy that surrounded him.

Across from him, Elizavetta only grew angrier, till she finally launched herself across the table, frying pan in hand. It wasn't particularly odd, but it was dangerous, and Vash immediately took action. As soon as she moved, he pushed his chair straight back till he hit the wall before he jumped up and took off toward the chalk board. Normally he wouldn't bring so much attention to himself at a world meeting, but he had two reasons. One, Hungary was a crazy woman when she had a frying pan, and two, getting the others involved would cause enough of a distraction for him to leave. World meeting over, that was decided when the best defense strategy became a bowl of pasta against a horde of meatballs (with spaghetti tails, couldn't forget that).

While the others handled Hungary, Vash rounded the chalk board and moved to the doors. He burst through the double doors rapidly, walking at a hasty pace to remove himself from the building. More than once he passed up a young country with pleading blue eyes, dressed in a white little school uniform. If he'd ever cared to acknowledge the little country, he might have bothered to know it was Sealand, but as was, he didn't give a care in the least. All he wanted at the moment was to get home to Lilli and away from the madness of an increasingly stupid world.


	3. House of Glass

Home wasn't nearly what he'd been expecting. Vash had considered the idea of a warm welcome, or a calming silence, but neither seemed to await him. Instead, standing before the house was his sister and the entire house staff, along with a massive handful of police officers. The ground was littered with broken glass and printed with a deep set of foot prints all around the property. The pesky police were busy questioning anyone and everyone, one at a time. Sometimes there was a reason why they were just a waste of time.

With one quick glance, Vash took note of the situation. He could tell no one was injured or missing; his uncanny knack for numbers seemed to ease his thoughts after a head count. Despite formalities, there was no reason for the bustling able bodied crew of cops to be there for so long. All Vash honestly needed was an explanation, new windows, and a little silence. Justice was great and all, but when he had insurance to fully pay for the damage and his sister was safe, then all he really wanted was a little peace and quiet.

Shaking his head and running a hand back through his blonde hair, he walked over to Lilli and grabbed her by the arm ever so gently. The young girl jumped slightly at first, but the moment her eyes caught his, she followed behind him without question as he pulled her off to the side.

"What happened here Lilli? Are you alright at least?" Ever the concerned older brother, that was Vash, it was always in his eyes how much he dearly loved her and worried about her to no end.

"Some Hungarian girl broke all the windows…" Lilli answered softly, her eyes meeting those of the taller Swiss man.

_Is this all about earlier? She really is crazy, that Elizavetta._

Vash sighed as he looked up to the house. He could already imagine the week long headache that was sure to come from the replacement of all the broken windows. It was crazy Hungary's fault, that impending week of pain and suffering. Even free, he dreaded the thought of so much money wasted, of directing a crew of work men to replace all the windows. He wasn't planning to stick around that, he'd leave that in his head of staff to take care of because there was no way he was messing with that disaster.

"Lilli, go pack your clothes. I'll make some other arrangements in the mean time…" Vash instructed, though a vein bulged on his forehead while he tried to suppress his frustrations. He couldn't believe he was considering asking Roderich for help, but he really didn't have anywhere else to turn. His Baltic relatives were all a bit loony, he feared for Lilli's safety with France (Or Germany… or Spain…), England's cooking wasn't worth the trouble, Italy was simply too eccentric, Canada, well, did he even exist? And that idiot America, Vash absolutely refused to ever be indebted to him. That didn't leave too many options and Roderich was the closest, even if it was bound to be a week of awkward staring. Still, that sounded better than the others.

* * *

As Lilli moved back toward the house, Vash followed at a distance, scrambling the police officers and disbanding their current investigation. He'd do anything to get a little room to think. Still frustrated, he stormed into the kitchen and picked up the phone. Heaving a long, heavy breath, he dropped his shoulders and dialed Roderich. He watched with a calming mind every time he had to pause and let the wheel on the phone turn back.

Switzerland waited, tapping the toe of his boot on the floor and folding his arms over his chest, the phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear. He fidgeted back and forth, shifting his weight while he considered what he should say to Roderich. There was a soft click as the rather confused Austrian picked up the phone.

"Roderich? It's Vash. There's been an event, and I was wondering…" Vash paused and swallowed down his fear of what he was about to ask. He was never so needy in front of Roderich, but for once he wasn't left much choice. Suck it up with Roderich, or suffer a week long headache. "Your place is rather quiet. Do you mind if Lilli and I… stayed there for a bit? Just until the repairs are finished?"

"Sure, there's room here for you both. But… repairs? What happened?" Roderich asked in his typical tone. He usually didn't say much at all, and frankly, neither did Vash, but some formalities to be upheld. Besides, it wasn't as if they were incapable of discussion, they simply preferred the stark beauty of silence (or in Roderich's case, romantic music.)

"It's a story for another time. Lilli and I shall get there eventually. Till then." Vash responded hastily before he set the phone back on the receiver. Sweet Liechtenstein stood in the door way, her travelling chest full of clothes already packed and sitting beside her. Unfortunately, on the floor next to it was a less ornate box, his suitcase. She must have had a maid help pack so quickly, that, or he'd spent more time dissuading the cops from the investigation than he'd thought. Either way, Lilli had packed his clothes and no doubt she'd included in it that pink shirt from earlier that morning. IT was bound to be one big embarrassment around Roderich.

Then again, this was Roderich. The same guy who put in a pound of hair gel to maintain his "artistic curls;" the same guy who spent his days playing melancholy melodies on his piano; the same man who wore purple on a daily basis.

Yep, Vash would be fine in a pink shirt for one day.


	4. The Unfortunate Gold Standard

After an arduous trip, one of which the Swiss man hoped to soon forget. Lilli had spent most of the ride sewing, which left dear Vash to sit and twiddle his fingers in agony of the impending torture that was to come. His over active imagination, complete with adorable pictures of fluffy creatures, was teaming with the thought of Austria's laughter. Liechtenstein never seemed to worry about it, but Vash could never understand how that air headed Austrian didn't bother her. He was, well, Roderich! What was there worth liking about him at all?

The car pulled up in front of the Austrian's home, another unfortunate disappointment to be standing in front of. It was surprisingly alike to the Swiss house, other than the ornate decorations, the costly pillars, and the grandeur of it all. Then again, that was costly and completely unlike anything Vash enjoyed in his home. Perhaps they were very different homes after all.

To his greatest surprise, the wiry haired Austrian himself came to greet them. As was expected, that wicked kitchen creeper followed at his heels, some sly smile stuck on her lips as she moved around to Liechtenstein's side and took her by the arm. However surprised, Lilli followed her into the mansion without question. Hungary wasted no time in giving her the full tour before showing Lilli to her room for their week stay.

In their new found freedom, Vash and Roderich were left to walk alongside the other, awkwardly avoiding conversation. They weren't well suited to that, but the blonde young man could already see the question burning on the Austrian's lips. It had been something to dead ever since they got in the car, and it hadn't been so short of a ride over. At one point Vash had looked over and thought that even dear Lilli was getting frustrated with his nervous twitch and irritated aimless staring. He would have to do his best not to let that show too much. If they had to live together, even if just for a week, there was no room for pained expressions and awkward avoidance of questions. Perhaps he might finally learn the point of a good poker face.

"What exactly happened? You sounded angrier than distressed over the phone." Roderich asked gently, toying with his words only slightly to make them seem even the least bit more pleasant and playful. He was in no place to be making Vash angry with pointless questions.

"Someone came around with a bat and smashed in all the windows at my house. No one was hurt, no further threats, just a lot of broken glass." Vash answered softly. He stalled over what followed, hoping that when he said it, Roderich would remember the day's events at the world conference. "Lilli seemed convinced it was a Hungarian girl."

Roderich paused a moment, standing still on the stone walk for a short moment before he continued forward, shaking his head as if to rid himself of the thought. "How about dinner? You both must be ravished after such a long trip. It's already grown dark; we must make sure you get something to eat before you crash for the evening."

Vash turned his gaze to Roderich as he picked up his pace, double timing toward the kitchen. The Swiss man had to be careful not to run just to keep up with the taller man's long strides. Austria had skipped around that subject rather quickly. Probably for good reason, when Elizavetta was the main cook they'd do right not to say something against her. If she was scary without a greeting, it was hard to imagine what she'd be like after insulting her. It wouldn't be pretty, that was for sure.

Vash followed him inside quietly from there, afraid he'd get into trouble with Elizavetta if he said anymore about it; he'd just keep his mouth shut. Instead of bothering with a new conversational topic, Roderich lead Vash to the guest room in silence. Inside, the house was just as luxurious as the outside, holding a grandeur Vash couldn't much appreciate, but he easily would have pegged as Austria's. Roderich didn't concern himself with money the way Vash did, something that always bothered the blonde greatly. They stopped getting along for a reason, and Vash had always believed that was the reason why.

On the second floor was a large room decorated with off white walls and gold painted crowning. The drapes matched the walls, laced with gold thread through out. The floor was hard wood with a large area rug starting at the end of the bed. The bed itself had a dark wood frame with four high posts. The sheets were a dark blue with gold threading and off white colored pillow cases. The room was far too regal for Vash's taste, or pocket book, so he hoped not to be stuck in it. He wasn't going to get out of it that easily. Roderich stopped to the side of the open double doors and signaled into the room.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you a room any loser to Lilli. My house staff was rather insistent that you two be given some space." Roderich apologized gently before he turned to walk away. A step forward, a second, but he paused and looked back to Vash just as the blonde boys stomach grumbled. It brought a smile to Roderich's lips. "I'll see what I can do about dinner settings on such short notice. In the mean time, feel free to wander; you are a guest after all."

Roderich nodded his head once more to his old friend from a time long past. Sometimes the black haired boy wondered why that had to end; it was always something to think about, but not just then. He walked down the hall, leaving Vash to his lonesome while he settled in. Switzerland moved over to the four post bed and sat down on the end. His feet dangled slightly off the end as he lay back, staring up at the ceiling. Even that was painted god awful gold. In a very short while he felt out of place. He sat up quickly, fast enough that his head swam for a few seconds before he got to his feet.

He needed out, and there was no better a way to escape a luxurious room than to actually get outside. Maybe Austria would have a shooting range around, something calm Vash's nerves. Then again, Austria was a pansy, he had girly hands, he was afraid to get dirty, and he even spent his days inside playing piano. Any thought of a shooting range was gone quickly. Maybe he'd find something else; he'd keep his hopes up.

Needless to say, his shoulder's drooped, his steps slowed and he trudged his way downstairs and out the back door.


	5. The Melodic Bullet

The back court yard of the Austrian home was peaceful and quiet. Even if it wasn't a shooting range, Vash was a bit happier when he stepped out the back door. There was a white wood walk way that led to a set of stairs down onto the pale sand stone bricks that circled a small fountain. The stones split off into paths in every direction. One led to the apple orchard over the hill; another swept into the flower garden, filled to the brim with native flowers of the country; a third path thinned to dissipation in the direction of the lake; the fourth point of symmetry on the circle was coming off the house, which Vash followed along to the center fountain. Between the paths were small beds of daisies and violets of every color. Everything was pleasant about the court yard. From the white brick walls that encased it, to the butterflies that hovered over the distant fields, it was a nice place to sit.

In the distance, just off the path to the right that led to the orchard, was a small open tent. Beneath it sat three small figures and a piano that had somehow been wheeled out on the lawn. Trees arched over the path as Vash approached, casting long elegant shadows across the sporadic daisies scattered through the grass. His steps were short and slow, hesitant and afraid of whom it was that sat beneath the grand white tent. The closer he grew, the better he could make out there shapes. Of one he was certain, Lilli. He inched closer and closer till he could make out the other two before a melodic sound reached his ears. Roderich sat at the piano, playing a heart wrenching slow piece for Lilli and Elizavetta. It was slow, melodic, melancholy, and had already brought the girl's to tears. Roderich's fingers roamed the keys with ease, finding everything with perfect timing and playing without pause.

Vash could already feel his stomach wrenching for him to barf. Sure he loved music, but why that song? It was almost as if Roderich was trying to bother him with songs that made him cry, songs that brought on un-measureable heart break. It was a song that Roderich had written long ago, when they were just children, when they were still friends. What a sickening memory that was, back when they would spend time together, when they spoke to one another like old friends, back when Vash would be forced to rescue him from Elizavetta on a daily basis. They were glorious memories, but horrible nightmares. He'd always had a hope of moving past those memories, but somehow that song brought it all back.

For the first time in a long, long while, Vash's cheeks grew damp and he blinked furiously to hide it. A few feet away from the tent, the girl's could see him. He stood a fair distance behind Roderich still, out of his line of sight, but the girl's both looked up to him through their teary eyes. They'd been crying tears of joy, intrigued by the artistic mastery of the song, but they both could see on Vash's face the pain behind his watery eyes. He had no intention of sticking around to be seen like that. He'd never cried, no one had ever seen him cry, never, and he'd be damned if they ever found out why. He turned on his heels and ran, ran all the way back to the house where he converged in on his room.

Inside, he found something that hadn't been there before, his belongings, including his favored five shot revolver and a box of bullets. He didn't fuss with the rest of his stuff, and instead grabbed the gun and ammunition and headed back out. Only with the gun in hand did he raise the heel of his palm to his cheek and wipe away the tears that continued to streak down his cheeks. The front of his blonde hair was beginning to stick to his cheeks from the damp tears and he quickly swept it all back. His feet pounded heavily against the floor as he reemerged in the courtyard and took off down the hill toward the pond. He trudged through the gardens of daisies and violets without a single care for them; he just needed to find somewhere private, somewhere that he could fire a good shot in alone; somewhere that Lilli wouldn't have to see him.

Vash skidded to a halt at the water's edge, the very tip of the toe of his boot in the water. He pulled at the collar of his coat before pulling it off, button after button and tossed it to the side. He stood at the very edge of the bond in the long fringe of grass in his boots, pants, and a black under shirt, staring out over the water. Damp tears still slid down his cheeks as he put a single bullet into the barrel of the gun. He set the box of ammunition to the side and turned the revolver a few clicks until it was at the bullet. He raised his arm, his hand shaking only slightly as he held up the gun. With one calming breath that eased his shaking hands, he pulled the trigger.

* * *

A shot rang through the silence of nature and interrupted Roderich's beautiful piece. The dark haired Austrian pulled his hands off the piano keys and looked at the girls. Hundreds of birds that had at one point sat in the trees sprang up in hordes, flying far away from the Austrian mansion. An eerie feeling set in around them, both of the girl's stared to Roderich with shocked expressions. Lilli clasped her hands over her lips in shock before she bowed her head and leaned a little closer to Elizavetta till her forehead hit the older girl's shoulder. Both females began to weep and Roderich only came to one conclusion: Vash.

Without another thought, without a word, Roderich sprung to his feet and took off toward the pond. _I should have known, I shouldn't have played it, Vash…Forgive me._ He thought hopelessly as he ran. As his eyes fell upon his old friends hunched frame, he slowed. Vash was on the ground, his revolver clutched in his hand with smoke still creeping out the end. It had just been fired, and there was no doubt that Vash had been the one to fire it. Roderich sighed as a small smile crept up on his lips and he moved to the other countries side. He picked up the green jacket that lay on the ground a few feet away and draped it over his once comrades shoulders, sitting down beside him.

They both sat in a long silence, staring out over the water. Every minute or so, Vash would raise his right hand and wipe away the water from his cheeks. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, dropping the gun to the ground in the process. It tumbled slightly, rolling into the water where it sat submerged and ignored. A ripple disturbed the surface of the pond, originating from the gun, and the boys simply watched. In one of the trees on the other side of the pond, small bubbles of sap leaked down where the first bullet had penetrated the wood. Vash said nothing as his tears subsided and he moved closer to Roderich. The night air had begun to surround them, and the sun overhead set on the distant horizon and darkness began to enshroud them both.

* * *

"I'll never play it again." Roderich muttered as he broke the silence the surrounded them. Something had to be said.

"Good," Was Vash's only response. They sat a little longer in silence at this, before Roderich got to his feet and held a hand out to the blonde Swiss man. Vash dove his hand into the water and picked up his silver gun, then his nearby box of bullets, before he took Roderich's hand grudgingly and got to his feet.

They had a long walk back to the mansion together.


	6. Tears from Fear

The walk back was absolutely silent between the boys. Crickets chirped in the evening light, humming their nightly lullabies to the world. Every time he looked over, Vash could see that Roderich was thinking up a new song as they walked. The Austrian's right hand waved in small, fluent patterns as if conducting a symphony, while the left played out notes on an invisible piano. Vash didn't bother to interrupt him, if Roderich wanted to look like a fool, and he was well used to it, then it wasn't the blonde boys place to stop him, even if it was a little annoying. However, it was something to keep them occupied through the silent walk back, as long as it wasn't that song then there was no reason to bother with it.

At the door of the house, an elderly butler opened the door for the two and they moved inside, still without a word. Roderich led the way to the dining hall where the girls would surely be waiting. He neglected to make it noted that they might very well still be in tears, or that Lilli might be angry with Vash, that was something the ignorant young man could figure out on his own, the hard way. Roderich bowed his head slightly at the door and nodded him in wordlessly, seeming as though he had no intention of joining them. He would never be so uncouth as to leave his guests to a meal without him, but he did in fact have a new melody forming in his head and he wanted to make certain he got it on paper before it left him.

"You'll have to excuse me, I'll be in shortly. There's just something I want to do quickly." Roderich explained gently before he turned away and moved down the hall, leaving Vash to stand before the closed doors and stare at the dark wood that separated him and his sister. It was almost like preparing for a world meeting, he could already imagine Lilli was upset with him for running away like that earlier. There weren't many times to fear Lilli, but when she very well could be angry with him, it was best to avoid such situations. Then again, if he waited it off much longer she could just be angrier with him. That would be a disaster.

Sighing softly, the blonde young man pulled his coat a little closer to him from where it hung still loose around his shoulders where Roderich had placed it by the lake side. He was not fond of the thought that it hit the ground again. That coat was a treasure and one time on the ground, in the dirt, was enough. Once certain it was secure, he pushed the door open and took a step inside. A flurry of pink jumped from her seat just as Vash was fully in the room and she could see him. Lilli ran over to him and wrapped her arms tight around her brother's mid section, embracing him endlessly as a fresh stream of tears slid down her cheeks. She hid her face in his chest, wrinkling his black under shirt. At firt her embrace made him shutter and he released the coat, which in turn fell to the ground. He didn't much seem to mind it though, dear Lilli was distressed and he had to set things right, whatever she was upset about.

Slowly, Vash moved his arms around her and pulled her a little closer to him, a soft smile on his lips as he hushed her crying. He hadn't seen her so emotional in a very, very long time, he couldn't really understand why she was so upset all of a sudden. He didn't ask questions though, he just held her till her blubbering subsided and she looked up at him. Vash raised his right hand to her cheek slowly and brushed the tears off her cheeks, smiling at her wordlessly. She stared up at him for a long moment until his hand moved away from her face and she raised her hand slowly. At first Vash thought she was trying to ask a question, like a school girl in a classroom, perhaps Elizavetta had taught her that since they got there, but within a moment that thought was gone.

Crack. The sound of cold flesh on flesh rang through the silent room. Vash raised his left hand to his cheek, which throbbed painfully from where she'd hit him. Lilli paused a moment, before she cowered back into his arms and shed a few more tears. Vash sighed and put his right arm around her for a moment longer.

"I thought you were dead…" Lilli muttered through her tears as she continued to cry into his shirt. Vash stared down at her for a long moment, trying to register what she'd just said. Dead? Why on earth would she think that? It took him a long minute before it clicked and he held her tight in his arms, shaking his head. He felt so stupid, how could he make her worry like that? He was a terrible brother, he wasn't supposed to make things harder on her and make her cry for heaven's sake! He almost wanted to cry at the sight of her in tears over him, but he held back. He didn't cry over many things, and even if that one song had brought him to tears, he wasn't going to cry again.

"Shh… Lilli, it's alright. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to worry you. Besides, you should know me better than that. I would never leave you like that." He whispered gently, stroking her hair down while Elizavetta watched the both of them in silence. It was the first time he'd seen her seriously sit still and shut up. Lilli's crying slowly subsided and Vash finally released her. He raised his hand to her cheek once more to wipe away her tears before he slipped his hand into hers and walked over to the table. Lilli continued to sniffle a bit as she sat at the long table beside Vash, but she did her best to stay quiet. She felt a little guilty she'd hit him to begin with, but Vash didn't seem upset with her so she didn't say a word about it.

Behind them, Roderich reemerged and took his seat beside Elizavetta, facing Vash. Somehow the great deal of dislike for Vash's actions had carried on to anger toward Roderich, because both boys were treated harshly over dinner. Neither of the girl's spoke to them all through the meal, even while the boys tried for simple conversation. Even without words, though, Lilli kept her hand in Vash's through the entire meal, eating with her left hand and awkwardly avoiding her steak because she couldn't pick up the knife to cut it while she was holding onto her brother's hand.

It was a nice meal, traditional Austrian foods, like schnitzel and wurst. The steak was topped with a thick cream sauce, which neither of the blonde's took note of because they couldn't cut it with their hands interlocked. Dessert was a soft peppermint frozen yogurt, which was pleasant and a good end to the meal.

Only once they'd finished eating did Lilli let go of Vash's hand. At the end of the dining hall stood a grandfather clock that chimed ten as the house staff came around and picked up the last of their dishes. Everyone seemed a little surprised that it was so late, even when the sunset it hadn't seemed so late, but it had already been hours since Vash and Lilli had arrived, it really was that late, even if it didn't feel as such. Lilli and Elizavetta stood slowly and bowed to both of the boys slowly before they turned to leave. Lilli paused beside Roderich and leaned over slightly, as if to whisper something in his ear.

"Please keep him safe." She pleaded quietly before she gave their host a soft, friendly kiss on the cheek, and headed off to bed. Vash and Roderich sat a little longer in the dining hall, staring down at the white table cloth where their food had once sat. They both seemed a little disappointed in something, as if their awkward staring was with cause. Perhaps it was the fact that they were thinking about how angry the girls had seemed, or the way Lilli had spoken earlier, like Vash might actually do something stupid.

* * *

"She had good reason for it you know." Roderich muttered finally to again break the awkward silence that had befallen them. While he awaited a response, Roderich slipped his hands in his pockets and stood up beside the chair, watching as Vash did the same. Through the course of the meal, his jacket had been moved to the back of his chair and he picked it up happily, glad to see it had been dusted off since it had been dropped.

"I understand that. Lilli worries a lot, but it's always quite rational. I just wish she wouldn't." He responded honestly. Roderich nodded slightly and walked around the table to the door, Vash following at a short distance.

"Don't give her so much reason to worry then. As you said, it's quite rational. You shouldn't put her in a place that she would need to worry in the first place." Roderich remarked, keeping his back to Vash as they walked to the stair case. For a short moment, the only sound that echoed down the halls was the click of their shoes against the hard wood floor. At the edge of the stairs, Roderich turned and looked back to Vash, who was walking slowly, his head hanging while he considered what Roderich had said. He was right, Lilli worried about him for a reason, and if he ever wanted her to stop then he really needed to quit that, but still, it kind of hurt to have Roderich tell him that.

Suddenly, Roderich grabbed Vash's arm and pulled him closer. His grip on the smaller boys arm was tight, almost painful if not for the fact that the young Swiss man was far stronger than Roderich. That didn't make what came next any less painful. Roderich's grip tightened a bit more, and his other hand moved up to Vash's cheek, where he smacked him just as Lilli had before. Vash could only stand to stare up at the dark haired Austrian, stunned that he'd just been hit like that, and by someone he never thought would ever be concerned with Vash again.

"Don't ever worry me like that again! I've never been more afraid in my life!" Roderich shouted at him before he let go of Vash and moved a few steps up the stairs before he turned back to Vash. He paused, then descended again and stood before his old friend. Slowly, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the blonde's lips, leaving Vash in utter shock. "Somehow, I still can't bear to lose you."

Roderich turned away at that and made his way up the stairs to his room, leaving Vash to his own accord. Without protest, without a word, Vash sat at the bottom of the stairs and leaned his head against the railing. His mind raced, trying to set it all straight. In the end, it was futile, and instead of going up for a good night's rest, he fell asleep across the bottom stair, his coat hanging over his shoulders to keep him warm.


	7. Memory Sick

Vash opened his eyes slowly, a fuzzy image hovering in his view.

There was a purple jacket, and some thick brown/black hair that hung a little before some very blurry looking glasses. An arm slipped beneath his knees, another behind his back. He felt the soft fabric of his jacket slide down his chest, dangling between him and whomever held him. Slowly, the ground beneath him seemed to disappear, and he cuddled close to the thing that held him, falling back to complete unconsciousness.

* * *

His eyes opened once again, the sight of an endless sea of gold above him. To his side, he could make out the purple figure once again, but he was too tired to speak up and ask any questions. Sleep continued its beaconing, and the warmth of the blankets that lay over him coaxed him to sleep once more.

* * *

By early morning, the hint of sunlight crawled in through the windows. The sun itself was just beginning to rise over the eastern mountains, and the sky turned a pale pink in the morning light. Vash opened his eyes slowly, blinking endlessly until he could clearly see the shapes of objects that surrounded him. He was back in his room. How, he wasn't sure, but he was quite certain he was in that atrocious golden room, beneath those regal blue blankets, with his head on those perfectly fluffed golden pillows. He wanted to die. He still felt incredibly out of place in that room, and to make things worse, he felt horrible. His left cheek still ached like it had the night before, his legs were stiff and hard to move, his back hurt from a long night on the steps, and his stomach hissed and moaned and tumbled around like he should be leaning over a toilet and not lying in a luxurious bed.

He **really** wanted to die.

It wasn't any easier to think of something pleasant and feel any better. Every time he thought of Lilli's smiling face, all that came to mind was those waterfalls of tears he'd seen the night before. When he tried for a friendly memory from his childhood, the only person who came to mind was Roderich, which brought him to what had happened last night. That only brought on more confusion, which made his head ache like never before. What really had happened last night? One moment Roderich was yelling at him, the next he had kissed Vash, and that was just plain strange. Perhaps putting it in context, it had made sense; after all, Roderich had been extremely worried about Vash too. But still, why did he have to kiss him?

_That stupid, piano loving moron! He's only making my life confusing! And what about while I was asleep? Did I really see him in that crazy dream? Oh god, what if he was the one who brought me up here! I never should have slept down there; I must have looked so weak! Damn that Austrian! He shouldn't have been there!_ Vash thought to himself, anger growing in his thoughts with every word. But suddenly, he softened and leaned back in the pillows, his eyes back on the gold-ish ceiling. _Why is he always there? Why is it, that every time I do something stupid, he's there to save the day? Didn't I used to do that for him? So why then can't I hate him for it?_

A squeaking noise came from the direction of the door, which made Vash sit up rapidly so that he'd look a bit more alert. It did him little good, as his head swarmed and his pounding headache grew. He quickly wished he hadn't been so quick to move. He almost felt like had a terrible hang over, but he hadn't drank anything the night before so it didn't make much sense. He just felt ill, violently ill, and there wasn't a whole lot to stop him from just getting sick right then, except for the Austrian standing in the doorway. That was a good reason not to grab a trash can or bolt for the bathroom.

"I'm glad to see you're awake. Winter nights are cold around here; I'd be surprised if you didn't get sick from sleeping on the cold stairs like that." Roderich stated from the doorway, a troublesome, gentle smile resting on his lips. He looked so calm and cheerful, like there was nothing wrong in the world. Vash could highly disagree, and in about ten seconds, he had a feeling his stomach would prove his point.

His face went pale, then a sickly color green, before he threw the covers off and sprinted to the bathroom. Roderich watched for a moment as Vash tore off to the bathroom, stifling his laughter at the thought. He knew it was unkind to laugh at someone's misfortune, but the coincidence of the time in which such an event occurred was rather humorous to him. Still, he remained concerned about his old friend; Vash was in the bathroom puking his guts out after all.

"Vash? Are you alright in there?" Roderich asked gently, standing beside the locked door. There was a long pause after he posed his question, then the sound of running water. The shower was on, which made very little sense to the Austrian, but he could understand just why Vash had done that. The thought of being so sick was embarrassing, and Switzerland was in no mood to be tormented by the thought of Roderich's knowledge. It was bad enough to have locked himself in the bathroom, Roderich need not be involved to make things worse.

"I feel like my head's going to split open, my stomach's empty, I'm stiff and in pain, I feel absolutely awful, and you want to know if I'm okay? Yeah, I'm completely fine." Vash hissed harshly over the sound of the shower. It was rather obvious that he was in no joking mood, and to make it worse his head started spinning again and he was forced to lie down with his back against the side of the bath tub just to calm his headache and his stomach.

Roderich flinched a bit at his words, but tried not to let it get to him. He knew how Vash could get, and he knew before he asked that the Swiss young man was not feeling well in the least bit, but he'd asked in hope of some response to know that behind the locked door, at least Vash was alive. "Do you want me to get you something? I'd hate to see you miserable like this all day." Roderich offered gently, hoping that such kindness might make things a little easier on Vash.

"Tonic water, a blanket, and some ibuprofen. Lots of ibuprofen." Vash muttered his voice a little softer, a little weaker than before. There wasn't a lot of point in being angry at Roderich, it wasn't his fault after all. Vash had been the idiot the night before, he was the one who slept on the stairs and got himself sick. He was angry that Austria had kissed him and made him so confused that he'd chosen to sleep on the steps instead of his room, but it wasn't actually his fault.

Oh, who was he kidding! Why wasn't he blaming it all on Roderich? What the hell was going on? He always blamed things on Roderich, always, why was this any damn different?

From the other side of the door, Roderich moved out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen. He waved off his servants that offered to help and grabbed the glass bottle of tonic water. He poured it in a glass, and then moved upstairs to the bedroom once more. He pulled a blanket out of the far closet that was hidden in the wall of the bedroom before closing the closet door again. He then walked over to the bathroom door and knocked twice, waiting only a moment while Vash turned the knob on the door and unlocked it. Roderich sighed softly, a small smile on his lips in hopes that a good bed-side manner would help Vash feel better.

He opened the door slowly and his eyes immediately fell on his friend, who looked about ten times worse than he had five minutes ago. He was about half asleep on the floor. His green pants were wrinkled up around his ankles, his black under shirt was slidding down his arms, he only had a sock on his right foot, and his face was a horrid mix of pale white and faded green. He looked absolutely awful. Roderich wasn't about to waste any time getting Vash back on his feet, he couldn't stand to see him looking that terrible.

Roderich sat the glass of tonic water on the sink counter and handed the blanket off to Vash, who immediately wrapped it around his shoulders. The Austrian then went rummaging through the medicine cabinet till he found the ibuprofen and cold medicine. He took two of each out of their bottles and held them in the palm of his left hand before he screwed the caps back on and put the bottles back in the medicine cabinet. He took the glass of tonic water in his right hand and held the pills and liquid out to the blonde young man on the floor.

"Take those, and then let's get you back in bed. You'll feel better once you get some rest." Roderich explained gently as Vash took the pills out of his hand. There was no hesitation in the Swiss man as he tossed the pills back and downed them with a little of the tonic water. He paused a moment, making a face like he was about to throw up again, or a bit like he was choking, but within a few seconds he settled and leaned back against the bath tub again. Roderich sighed and took the glass of tonic from him and set it back on the sink counter. He reached his hand down to Vash, who slowly groped his way up the wall to stand. He wobbled a little, and Roderich immediately jumped into help him. Slipping Vash's arm over his shoulder, he wrapped his own arm around the blonde's mid section and half walked with, half carried Vash back to bed.

At the bedside, Roderich lifted Vash up and helped lean him back against the head board and pillows. He pulled the blanket up to Vash's waist before he moved back to the bathroom and brought the glass of tonic back over to Vash's bedside. He set it on the night stand then moved around the bed to the other side, where he climbed onto the bed beside Vash.

"Really Roderich? I'm only going to get you sick too." Vash muttered, leaning his head back as he sucked in a sharp breath. He was waiting for the pills to set in, but until then, he remained miserable, and about the only way to deal with it was to sit still. Roderich seemed less than concerned, and instead of moving away, he moved a little closer to Vash, placing his hand on the blonde's forehead. Vash's face flushed red as he stared at Roderich. The Austrian smiled, and pushed Vash down slightly so that he was lying down completely, then leaned over him, his one hand still resting on Vash's forehead.

"I can't let Lilli down you know. She did trust me to keep you safe, and I can't do that if I'm not nearby." Roderich joked. Vash glared at him for a long moment, but slowly let go. Roderich was doing what his sister had asked of him, he really couldn't blame him for that, but did he really have to be on top of Vash like that? It didn't help that those meds were starting to kick in, he could feel a sleepiness setting in once more. He groaned slightly, wishing he could get Roderich off of him, but it was no use. He was too tired, and the edges of his vision were already fading to black.

He didn't remember the next few seconds, there was a lot of scrambling, anything to get Roderich off of him, but it was useless, and within a few minutes he was out like a light. Only three words rested on Vash's lips as he fell into unconsciousness once more.

"I missed you."


	8. A Few Letter's Difference

By the following morning, Vash was well rested. A little too well rested. Roderich was downstairs getting him breakfast, and he was having a bit of trouble sitting still. He hadn't gotten out of bed in some 24 hours, at least, not as far as he could remember, and he was too bored to sit around anymore. Lilli, in an unfortunate turn of events, had already threatened him that morning about staying in bed; she didn't want him getting any sicker. The problem was that, despite how awful he'd felt the day before, he was feeling much better, and he was already drugged up again.

To the others, his bouncing around in bed was probably a little annoying.

That wasn't to say that he was bouncing, per say, but he wasn't doing too well with the idea of sitting in bed in his hot pajamas while Roderich was off getting him some big breakfast. He felt good enough to go outside and fire a couple good rounds with his gun, and he'd be damned if they got to stop him for much longer! Admittedly though, it would be kind of hard to fight Lilli off, she might beg, or cry, and he couldn't stand the thought of doing that to her. He might just have to wait until left the room, or at least until she was happy to see him eating something. Maybe his negotiating skills would get Lilli off his back for a bit. He loved her dearly, but she worried too much. Besides that, why did Roderich have to go off and tell her to begin with? _Slimy git can't keep a secret._

Oh god, now he was starting to sound like Arthur. Maybe there was something seriously wrong with him after all.

With a soft sigh, Vash leaned back in bed until his head smacked against the head board and he yelped. Lilli looked over at him through those same worried eyes as Roderich moved inside, both of them looking to Vash, who whimpered and furiously rubbed the back of his head. He sat up straight, one hand on the back of his head while his eyes wandered the pattern in the sheets. Roderich held a small breakfast tray, one he was proud to say he'd prepared himself. On it was a glass of half spilt milk, a plate with sausage and eggs, a smaller plate with a fresh baked cinnamon roll, and a small vase of flowers out of the garden.

"Lilli, I think Elizavetta was looking for you. Vash seems fine; I think you two should go do your shopping like you planned." Roderich spoke softly to Lilli, encouraging her to go enjoy herself; he could look after their little patient for a few hours while she was away. Lilli looked to her brother for a long moment, as if her eyes warned him not to do anything stupid, before she moved out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her. The purple coated Austrian simply smiled as she took off, almost as if he were victorious at something, like he was playing a game. He made his way over to Vash and set the tray over the blonde's lap with the milk set in the far corner before he moved to a couch along the wall of the room, giving Vash a little room to eat.

Vash waited, listening for the sound of his sister's foot steps to fade down the hall. Only then did he push the food away and looked at Roderich, a sour look on his face. "Shopping?"

"Elizavetta said she'd pay for it." Roderich answered honestly, watching as Vash pushed the food away. He pouted slightly, he'd worked hard on that all morning and Vash wasn't eating it. He couldn't really understand why either, the blonde had to be starving; he hadn't eaten in over a day. That only made Roderich concerned in addition to a little wounded by the fact that Vash had pushed it away. "It's not a big deal, what is a big deal is that you're not eating."

"Not hungry." Vash muttered quickly in response to the food comment. It was unfortunate that his stomach was quick to disagree with him, and a small rumble echoed through the momentarily quiet room. He shook it off quickly and immediately jumped for something to say to cover it up so that Roderich wouldn't trouble him about it anymore. "Lilli is a big deal to me! If she's leaving me to go shopping then… then she's leaving me alone. I can't defend her when we're apart, and if anything ever happened to her… well, she's all I've got." Vash mumbled softly, almost as if the last bit was meant for him alone.

Roderich sighed softly and got to his feet, shaking his head at Vash's words. "Even if you were there with her, you couldn't defend her when you're in this state. Besides…" Roderich paused and moved over to Vash's bedside. He looked over the food before tearing off a piece of the cinnamon roll and handing it to Vash. He leaned in slowly, his lips hovering next to the blonde's ear as the second bit of words slipped past his lips. "Besides, she's not all you've got. Now, eat something, or you won't have anything at all."

Vash stared at the flakey piece of bread in his hand, then up to Roderich, and then back to the food. He slipped the piece of bread between his lips and chewed slowly, making obnoxious faces like there was the chance it was poisoned or it tasted bad. After a few seconds, he swallowed it down, and pulled the tray a little closer to him, reaching for the cinnamon roll. He didn't bother to protest anymore, just ate. He knew he should get his strength up, he knew he hadn't eaten enough lately, he knew that he had to if he wanted to protect Lilli, so he didn't protest in the least bit. Roderich seemed satisfied at this and slowly backed away, turning to a very strange piece of furniture at the other end of the room. Either it was an immaculate conception of wood, or Vash hadn't noticed it before (of which the later was far more likely). A baby grand piano sat in the center of the far end of the room. While Vash ate, Roderich moved to the black painted instrument and sat before the keys. He lightly ran his fingers over the top of the keys, trying to get a feel for them before he began to play.

It was a cheerful piece, the one that filled the room. It was like a lullaby, soft and sweet. It didn't have the same effect as a lullaby, but the sweet melody was romantic, almost alluring. Roderich's fingers danced across the keys as he played, gracing every not with a delicate ease like a mother stroked their new born baby. It was art, uncontainable art. Even as the song came to a close, and Roderich's fingers slowed to a stop, his expression remained, almost as if he were caught in some fantasy world. Just as it seemed he might snap out of it, he started another song of a similar style. Though a little more robust, and set in a different key, it was the same kind of romantic feel. Vash was having trouble focusing on eating, because all he wanted to do was listen to the music that graced the room. He just ate a little faster so that he could pay more attention to the music.

As he downed the half glass of milk Vash pushed the tray aside, followed by the blankets. He set the empty glass back on the tray, then jumped to his feet and walked over to the piano bench where Roderich sat, playing his music without distraction. Vash didn't interrupt him; he simply sat down beside him slowly. The old piano bench creaked but Roderich didn't stop, he simply continued to play, appearing rather ignorant of his company. Vash put his hands on his knees and watched; his eyes wide in amazement as Roderich played. He could remember when they were children, back when they were friends. Roderich always tried to teach him piano, he'd point to the appropriate keys and wait until Vash hit it, but those days were long past, and about all Vash could manage to play still was a C scale because it was 8 white keys in a row.

* * *

"_This is too hard! I can fire a gun fine, that's what matters! Playing the piano is a stupid skill!"_

"_Vash, calm down. It's not that hard, you just have to try."_

"_I don't want to! Piano is for sissy's like you, guns are for guys like me!"_

"_Maybe that's true, but if you try you won't ever understand piano. So what if you're not any good? It's about understanding the music you play. You have to feel it in your heart. Here, let me show you."_

* * *

Vash shook his head quickly, shaking the memory away. That was the first time Roderich had ever tried to teach him how to play. He'd been so smiley that whole time, and even though his example that followed his words was simple, it had been a heartwarming piece that sounded like it was Roderich's alone. Those were the days he'd missed so dearly, when all the Austrian had to do was play a simple symphony and melt the Swiss boy's heart. He was still quite capable of such, but Vash was a good bit better at hiding his fascination than he was as a child. At least, he thought he was.

Without even noticing, the music had already stopped around him. Roderich sat, looking to Vash with a great deal of curiosity while the blonde shook his head as if riding himself of a precious memory. He tried to hide his laughter at the very thought and moved a little closer to Vash. He moved his hands over the keys once more, as if to start another piece. Without thinking, his fingers started a solemn melody, the one he'd played in the yard a few days before, the song that had started the whole mess, the one he'd promised to never play again. Vash's head drooped, but he didn't stop Roderich, not for a while.

Then as the piece reached its peak, Vash reached his hand out and grabbed Roderich's left hand, the one that was nearest to him. Like a child, he pulled it away from the keys, and the music came to an abrupt stop. Roderich didn't speak, he didn't try to pull away in the least bit; instead, he edged closer, slipping his hand into Vash's.

Without a word, without so much as a breath to brace him, Vash moved his lips to Roderich's. Soundlessly, the Austrian moved his arms slowly around the blonde Swiss man and embraced him in a soft and gentle hug. They both sat still, their lips still connected for a moment longer before Vash pulled away and rested his head against the soft tufts of fabric of Roderich's shirt.

"You said you wrote that song as a final good bye, but I could never let that happen. My loathing ceased a long time ago." Vash whispered. His words were soft, tinted with unspoken words of sadness. He looked up to Roderich, looking for some reaction behind those dark brown curls of hair and those half moon spectacles. Roderich only smiled back at him, slowly leaning toward Vash until the blonde was forced to lie back on the piano bench. The purple fabric of the Austrian's jacket hung over Vash's side slightly, darkening the space between them.

Roderich ran a warm hand along Vash's cheek bone, brushing back the yellow hair that hung around his face. His hand slowly slid behind Vash's neck and he pulled the Swiss man toward him slightly, just enough to return a long, sweet kiss.


	9. Lonely Roses

It took a long while for Vash to convince Roderich to get off of him. They'd been laying about, mostly making out, for the last twenty minutes, and though neither one could say they didn't enjoy it, they were a little afraid that they might get too distracted. Well, that was the reason they gave, they had bigger fears on their mind.

It had been years since they'd spent time together, and even with love blossoming between them, they both feared the idea of moving just a little too fast. It didn't help that they were in a bedroom and Roderich had previously instructed his house staff to leave Vash to his own accord so they weren't around to disturb them. That was a very dangerous situation indeed, because there was very little that stopped them except fear. The most unfortunate was it the reason Vash ended up using to get Roderich to let go of him.

"What about when Lilli gets home?"

"She's only been gone for twenty minutes Vash! Do you honestly think she'll be back that quickly?" Roderich protested with a sigh, though he slowly pulled back away from the blonde anyways. He sat up, and then moved to his feet, almost in stages so that he didn't go too fast. Vash really needed to learn how to do that, it would prevent unnecessary headaches every time he was alarmed.

"I don't know. She always shops with me, and I run through everything quickly. I guess if she's with Elizavetta she probably will be gone longer." Vash sighed and slowly sat up while Roderich stood in front of him, smiling some strange smile that he'd had glued on his lips all morning. It was starting to get really annoying. Sometimes Vash almost felt like had a secret to hide, and that bothered him greatly to even consider. There was a short moment of silence between them as they considered the idea of Elizavetta shopping. They both only seemed to imagine her two places, a cook ware store, and grocery shopping, in that particular order. Simultaneously, they flinched away from the thought then looked back to the other.

Vash tried his hardest not to laugh at the way they'd both reacted to that thought, but he couldn't help it. A soft, rolling laugh billowed past his lips in a way that was all his own. Roderich couldn't help himself to join in for a moment, it was rather humorous to know that after so many years apart, they both still thought alike about one thing. Finally, their laughter subsided to soft giggles every few seconds until they managed to quit. Roderich offered Vash a hand up so that he could get off the bench, trying to think about what to do while the girl's were out for the day. A lot of the thoughts that came to mind he shot down personally because he knew that, despite the fact that Vash was up and energized, he was still weaker than he let on and he was still sick. Roderich was in no place to be forcing him into difficult situations or pinning him against a worried Lilli, that would not ease any tension that might still reside between them.

Thoughts of more making out (and secretly "baking Cookies") aside, they couldn't just sit around all day, and they couldn't do anything too strenuous. Vash may have been a quiet individual, but he didn't sit still very well, especially not after he'd spent the last twenty four hours sleeping or moaning and groaning about how terrible he felt. If they didn't find something to do, it was only a matter of time before Vash pulled out his revolver and started shooting the hinges off doors. That would not be pleasant, not at all. Perhaps they could go sit in the garden for tea, Vash used to enjoy that, or maybe an easy going walk would be nice, get some fresh air. Unfortunately, all Roderich really wanted to do was sit around and play the piano or some other musical instrument.

Roderich hung his head slightly. He really wasn't any good at coming up with anything to do, he wasn't a very original person. That's when it hit him. He did know what to do that would make Vash happy and keep Lilli off their backs so she wouldn't worry. First came first though, getting Vash to get dressed. He was still in his blue striped pajamas, the ones that Roderich and Lilli together had managed to get him into sometime the previous day while he limply hung on them muttering groggy, nonsensical words. Vash had gotten lucky he'd left the blue pajamas out the other day, otherwise Lilli surely would have packed the pink ones she made him and the endless laughter would have begun far sooner.

Not that he could stop it, because somewhere in that suitcase, Vash was well aware that Lilli had packed that brand new pink shirt, and as long as Roderich was sticking to him like glue, he'd be bound to see it. He'd have to push it off as long as he could. If Roderich wanted them to go somewhere to occupy their time, fine, but Vash had already made up his mind that he'd let Roderich go ahead, the less time that Austrian got to see anything embarrassing, the better.

"Vash, get dressed. I'll meet you in the garden in a bit." Roderich commanded gently. For giving orders, he was unusually soft and sweet. Vash really had to spend some time kicking up the anger on that Austrian, but it could wait a bit. In the mean time, he needed to rummage through his wardrobe and remove of that pink shirt. Roderich turned away from him and walked out of the room to offer a little more privacy, leaving Vash to dig through his minimized wardrobe alone. He immediately pulled out the pink shirt so he knew what to avoid, but with a soft sigh he knew he couldn't avoid it forever. It might be easier to wear it when Elizavetta wasn't around, at least that way she wouldn't get to see him in it for long, if at all. True, Lilli wouldn't get to see it either, but that was a small price to pay, at least he could say he'd worn it by the end of the week.

Vash grabbed a pair of black trousers that were slightly tapered at the ankle and a rather casual black jacket to match. He slowly began to unbutton his shirt to dress in his clean clothes of the day before a realization reached him. In the last 48 hours, he'd sat on the lake side, slept on the stairs, spent a number of hours on his knees in the bathroom sick, then been in and out of consciousness just to throw up all of the day before, and in all that he hadn't had a shower.

He didn't think about it anymore than that and immediately sprinted to the bathroom. He was all for cleanliness, and sick or not, he'd gone long enough without a shower, that was just disgusting! He undressed hurriedly in the privacy of the bathroom and stepped into the shower. The water was warm and refreshing, easing the stiffness in his back that remained from his night on the stairs, and somehow rejuvenating him a bit. Not that the water was healing him, but it sure felt like it. For a moment he'd thought that his illness was washing right down the drain, just like the soap washed off along down his arms and legs, or how the shampoo bubbles slid through his hair and down his back. That was, until he stepped out of the warm water into the cold air and wrapped up in a towel both to keep him warm and to dry off.

He wasted no time getting dressed from there; he was too cold to waste time. He grabbed his under garments, socks, and shoes out of his suitcase without pause. Setting his shoes to the side, he dressed in the rest of his clothes. There was a moment's hesitation as he put his left arm through the sleeve of the pink shirt, but he decided it really wasn't worth the cold to think about wearing anything else. He buttoned it up from the bottom, leaving the top button undone for a casual look, though he didn't go as casual as to leave his shirt tails untouched, that just wasn't done. Once he had his shirt on, he pulled on his socks, then grabbed the semi-casual black shoes and put them on, right foot first.

Fully dressed and ready to go, Vash shook his hair out slightly, grabbed his jacket off the bed, then wandered downstairs and out to the court yard. Roderich stood beside the fountain, waiting. The look on his face was different from what it had been lately, he almost seemed frustrated, probably because he'd been waiting a bit longer than he'd been planning on. At the sight of Vash, his expression brightened a bit and he moved around the fountain to stand at his friend's side. It really gave Vash the chance to get a good look at him and his choice of clothes. For once, he'd put on something a little more casual. He was dressed in a blue-gray pair of pants and a mid thigh dark gray trench coat. Beneath the coat he had on a black vest over a pale purple button down shirt. The only thing about it that let it suit Austria the way it did was the high collar on the trench which fit just like his usual overcoats.

"Did you have something planned; because you're dressed a little odd to simply be wandering around the courtyard." Vash asked, trying to put it lightly that he wasn't accustomed to seeing Roderich in those kinds of clothes. The only image of Roderich that ever came to mind, aside from the ones of when they were kissing, were of Roderich in his nice suits and looking extremely well dressed. Not to say he looked bad in casual clothes, but it was a difficult thing to get used to.

"Right, yes. Come on, I'll show you the garden and then we can go off to do what I had planned." Roderich answered; a nervous laugh on his lips as he reached a hand up to the back of his neck. He should have expected that from Vash, his clothes probably did seem a bit unusual, but he hadn't seen the comment coming. He didn't give Vash too much time to make any other comments about either; he started into the garden before Vash got the chance to say a word.

Vash watched as his dark haired Austrian disappeared into the garden without so much as a warning. He didn't have many options; he had to run in after him. Vash gripped his black jacket tight before he took off running after Roderich, going until they were but a few feet away when he slowed to a stop. He felt kind of funny, like maybe running hadn't been such a good idea. Roderich turned to look back at him, and with a face that had started as a smile, it quickly turned to a look of concern and he moved to Vash's side, slipping an arm over his shoulder and taking some of his weight while he pulled Vash along to a bench to sit down.

It felt strange, being so light headed after a short little sprint like that. He was in much better shape than that normally, but of course, normally he wasn't running with a cold and suffering a small fever. Either way, that didn't make him any happier to be accepting Roderich's help after something so simple and stupid.

"Let go, I'm fine! I just got winded, I'm fine, really!" He yelled, pushing Roderich away before he could be babied anymore than he already was. He didn't like all the attention, everyone worrying him about him so much, it just didn't work well for the Swiss.

"Vash. You really shouldn't push yourself so much. Just calm down and rest. I'm not going to rush you." Roderich muttered, his smile gone and his eyes filled with worry. His half moon glasses were sliding down his nose but he ignored it, as long as he could see over the rim to look at Vash and know he was okay, that was all that mattered.

"I said I'm fine! I refuse to be babied by a country that has always needed me to come to the rescue!" Vash yelled before he stood and ran off inside. Roderich reached a hand out to stop him, words of protest on his lips, but Vash was gone before they passed his lips.

He was left in the rose garden, alone. And all because Vash was too proud to accept that he was still sick.


	10. Rain and Rainbows

Roderich sat a long while in the garden, half expecting that Vash would get over himself and come back, but after about five minutes of sitting outside, he knew Vash was not going to lighten up in the least bit. Some people could be very proud beings; Vash was clearly brimming with pride. He was a rich country, self sustained and sufficient, he'd always been left to defend himself and Lilli without any help, so it was to be expected that he had a lot of pride in him. But Roderich had trouble accepting that, even when Vash was the most conceited man he'd ever met, it was hard to imagine he'd be so idiotic as to turn down help. He was ill, terribly ill, and to turn down help when he knew that was just plain stupid. Vash may have been pretentious, but normally he wasn't quite so dense.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Roderich moved out of the rose garden and walked back toward the house, only to find Vash hadn't made it so far. The blonde haired young man was sitting on the edge of the fountain, hands on his knees. His hair hung over his face, hiding his pained expression as he sucked in long, deep breaths as if he were trying to calm himself or regain his breath like he'd just been running. The later seemed far more unlikely, especially since Vash had nearly passed out after running a very short sprint, he would not have run away from Roderich just to do more running, if he did then Roderich would have expected him to be passed out in the yard somewhere, not sitting on the fountains edge, his black jacket lying on the ground.

Wordlessly, Roderich moved over to the fountains edge and sat beside Vash, maintaining a safe distance between them so that Vash wouldn't jump up and run away immediately. Roderich sat and watched a bit, wishing he knew what to do for Vash in such a state, even though he knew that anything he did would only make the blonde angry with him. It didn't make sense! One minute he could help Vash, in fact he was being asked to help, and the next the blonde boy had gone running just because he had a friend to lean on. It just didn't make sense at all!

Over head, the sky rumbled and dark clouds began moving in above them. Earlier it hadn't looked like a storm, but somehow in the hour that passed since Roderich had last looked to the sky, it became quite evident that rain was unavoidable, and they had little time until they were hit. The problem became Vash, who showed no promise of moving away from his spot on the cement walling of the fountain. Rain could not be good for him, he was already sick enough. Besides that, Roderich didn't want to get sick himself and he didn't want to take care of Vash the whole time the blonde's were visiting. There were things he actually wanted to show Vash, things that required leaving the house! That wouldn't be possible if they were sick the whole time!

With a soft sigh, Roderich reached a hand out to Vash and placed it on his shoulder gently, his touch kind and caring. For a moment neither of them moved, neither of them spoke, they just sat there. It was very short lived. Vash reached his hand up to his face slowly and rubbed his eyes. For a second, Roderich seemed confused by such a motion, but when he glanced to the ground beneath the Swiss man, he saw the small silvered droplets on the ground.

_He was crying._ Roderich thought with a sigh, patting Vash's shoulder gently to offer him some reassurance. More than anything it was probably just a wasted effort, compassion didn't usually faze someone quite so hot headed, but at least Roderich felt as though he was doing something to cheer him up with such a notion. Vash seemed far from pleased with such an action and pulled away, scooting a few inches around the fountain's edge only to have the Austrian scoot alongside him.

"What exactly has gotten into you Vash? An hour ago you would have been happy with my help; you surely wouldn't have run off. What's so different all of a sudden?" Roderich pleaded, hoping for any kind of answer. He hated seeing his friend like this, torn apart and in so much emotional distress; it just didn't suit the Swiss at all. Vash was a strong individual; it didn't make any sense that he'd be crying so much. He hadn't cried in years, and yet Roderich, in three days time, had already seen him in tears twice.

"I can't protect Lilli like this. I can barely even support myself, so much that I need your help just to stand after a short sprint." Vash answered in a hushed tone, his eyes still locked on the sand stone brick beneath his feet. He crossed his arms loosely over his knees while he thought about it a bit more. There was more to it than that, a lot more, but he was afraid to say some of it to Roderich. They were finally talking to each other, after years apart; it would only hurt to speak his mind fully. "I feel so weak! I was always the one to carry you home, I was the one who cared for you, but now… I just don't like it!"

Roderich sat in silence as Vash's calm tone turned to a small fit of rage. He could get so worked up about such little things for no reason at all other than to get angry. Sometimes it was entertaining, occasionally funny, even a bit obnoxious, but for once it was depressing. There was more to it than that, there had to be, Vash was simply too worked up for it to be about that, after all, he hadn't thrown a fit the day before when Roderich had been the one literally taking care of him. Yes, there was more to it than just a little power struggle; something else was getting to him.

"And…? Come on Vash, there's more going through that head of yours."

"I don't want to love you! I never did!" Vash yelled at him, jumping to his feet. His eyes were a blood shot red and his cheeks still looked damp. Despite his tone, the look on his face was far from angry; he looked almost remorseful, sad about what he was saying. Roderich had been poking for an answer and he got it, even if the moment it reached his ears he wanted to stand up and run away just as Vash had before. He tried to remain composed as Vash continued, though he felt his heart break a bit at those words. "I really want to just hate you! But no matter how much I try, I can't… even when you do something I hate above everything else, my heart only swells. I hate it! I hate the fact that I am so god damn in love with you!"

Above them, thunder rumbled once more. A bolt of lightning split the sky, and the clouds began to rain down. There was no slow drizzle to start, only a sudden downpour that drenched the boys in moments. Neither moved away, neither fought against it, they were too frozen in the words that had been said. Vash seemed to have even surprised himself in what he'd said; he was almost angry to know he'd been so cruel hearted to someone that had only showed him kindness. Already he felt guilty, wished he could take back the pointless words that had slipped his tongue, but there was nothing he could say to take it back. He watched hopelessly as Roderich let his head droop, as his dark brown hair became drenched in the rain water and dripped streams of water to the ground. He felt his heart ache at the side of the Austrian's glasses all fogged over and the indistinguishable water marks that he couldn't determine them from the rain or his tears.

Roderich stood slowly, sucking down any response he might have had. He turned away from Vash and started toward the mansion door, but before he could move even a step away, Vash grabbed his wrist. He didn't turn to look at the man who held him back, he didn't complain or argue; he just stopped still, his arm pulled back a little so that Vash could still hold his wrist. Beads of water rolled down the gray trench coat and mixed in the forming puddles on the ground. A cold breeze of air whipped around them, but neither moved, they didn't even shiver.

Slowly, Vash edged closer and pulled Roderich toward him, turning him around ever so gently. Roderich didn't look up to him; he kept his eyes on the ground as Vash pulled him in. It wasn't until Vash ran a hand along his cheek that he looked up. Even then, there was sadness in his eyes that even Vash could not have matched, not when Roderich played their piece on the piano, nor when his heart ached endlessly; only Roderich could look so utterly defeated, so depressed. Vash sighed softly and moved his hand under the Austrian's chin, forcing him to look the Swiss man in the eyes.

"I said I didn't _want_ to love you. I didn't say I'd stopped loving you." Vash whispered before he pulled Roderich's lips to his. The dark haired man didn't move, he wasn't sure how to react; he was simply caught completely off guard. In the process, he was in fact, caught off guard as well, and so near to the fountain, that was a dangerous thing to be. He grabbed at Vash lightly, trying to keep his balance, but it became a useless effort, and within seconds he was in the pool at the base of the fountain, Vash on top of him.

They both paused, confusion and unease resting on their lips, but within a moment it subsided to laughter. Vash slowly crawled out of his very suggestive position in the fountain atop his friend, and got to his feet. He brushed his hair out of his eyes so that he could see, and offered his other hand to Roderich, who took hold of it almost immediately. Even drenched in the rain water before they'd fallen in, the Austrian was anxious to get out of his fountain and inside to warmth. Another chilled wind blew past them as the rain continued to pound against the ground, and the boys both shivered, clinging to one another to stay warm as they climbed out of the fountain one foot at a time. Vash leaned on Roderich slightly as they raced toward the back door of the house, knowing fare well from earlier that he couldn't easily run like that without wearing himself out.

Inside, two maids stood waiting with endless layers of blankets and towels that they draped around the two. Vash took the liberty of removing his soaked pink shirt and handing it over to a maid, then pulled the blanket close to him. Roderich discarded most of his layers as well, taking advantage of the warm, dry cloth that the maids had given them upon entrance instead of the soaking clothes he'd had on. He kept his pale purple shirt on beneath the layers of blankets that draped around his shoulders. He took Vash's hand gently and led him down the hall to a large sitting room. There was a long, elegant couch of a peach color that faced a large fire place. There was already a roaring fire going beneath the mantel and the two boys took seats up on the couch. One of the same maids came in with a tray that had two tea cups and a steaming pot of tea on it. She set it on the counter and proceeded to pour both pieces of china full of the hot liquid. Neither of the boys argued as she held it out to them in an urgent manner, and they waited till she turned to leave before they drank it all down.

The warm liquid was calming, pleasant, and by the time their cups were empty, Vash had cuddled up to Roderich, his eyes on the flames that flickered under the mantel. Roderich took the china out of Vash's hands and set it on the table in front of them before moving his arms around Vash and leaning his back against the arm rest of the couch.

"What do you suppose the girls will say? When they see our clothes are soaking wet, I mean." Vash asked softly, but Roderich quieted him gently and moved a hand up to his forehead. Vash didn't argue about that either, he could understand Roderich's concern. In fact, even when it might have bothered him, he found it rather pleasant, so instead of pushing Roderich off, he leaned his head against the Austrian and closed his eyes.

Maybe nothing could go wrong after all.


	11. Sweet as Candy

_I have been waiting on this one for a while! The end got a little complicated, had to keep it a little bit low profile considering._

_So, I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks for Reading so far! (over 500 hits! yay!)_

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With a painful clang, Vash woke from his sleep groggily to see a frying pan hovering inches from his nose. Roderich was half squished beneath him, struggling to free his arms from Vash's grasp so that he could rub his head where he'd been hit, rather harshly, by Elizavetta. Somehow, somewhere in the cozy fireside cuddling and the warm mountains of blankets they were wrapped in, the boys had fallen asleep on the pink couch. Apparently they'd been out for a while, because their unfortunate wake-up call came from the flustered Hungarian girl that was supposed to have spent her entire day out shopping with Lilli. Both of the boys were slow to move from their napping spots, and they were thankful that Elizavetta didn't hit them again for being so slow. She could really be mean sometimes, but apparently she had a nice enough side not to cause too much damage to the boy that was already sick.

"Is this how you two spend your days? Running through the rain, getting yourselves sick, and then falling asleep on the couch? It's a wonder you both haven't died from stupidity yet." Elizavetta remarked as she set her kitchen ware on the table behind the couch and moved across the room to open the curtains. The maid must have shut them when she saw the boys had fallen asleep, because they'd been open before, and neither Vash nor Roderich had cared enough about them to end their blissful states and go close them. Neither one of them seemed overly interested in moving off the couch to open them again either, so they left it to a certain increasingly angry Hungarian to bother with the curtains.

As she finished with the curtains alone, Elizavetta turned to look at the two boys and sighed, shaking her head. "Lilli and I are going to cook tonight. You two should go get some clothes on and we'll see you in an hour for dinner." She instructed before she picked up her belongings and left the room, giving the boys a moment to collect their thoughts and get their heads on straight. Vash took a little longer to pull himself together, and given the way he sat on Roderich's lap, there wasn't much the Austrian could do about going ahead of him. He waited until Vash moved off of him to stand up, and then proceeded to take his "friend" by the hand and slowly pull him upstairs. They left the pile of blankets and damp towels sitting on the couch by the fire, expecting that they would either dry by the fire or a maid would come around to pick them up.

There was a thoughtful look on Roderich's face as they neared the top of the stairs, as if he was considering the idea of skipping dinner, and he was seriously considering it. Not that he expected there to be bad food to fear, but he wasn't particularly hungry, and after such a nice nap he was energized and wanted to do something. Looking to Vash though, he knew they couldn't. Whether the blonde admitted it or not, he needed to eat, and he really wasn't fit to be running around on pointless little outings, however much Roderich wanted to do something. He still didn't want to sit through another awkward dinner with the girls though, there had been very little conversation the other night and he wasn't excited for a repeat.

At the top of the stairs, Roderich let go of Vash's hand and looked down the hall toward their bedrooms. With a soft sigh, he gave Vash one short kiss on the forehead before he headed down the hall toward his bedroom. Admit it or not, he looked atrocious in his current clothes. He looked nice before, but since they'd come inside he'd wrinkled his shirt, spilt tea on his pants, and discarded his other layers that completed the look. He really needed to change, and the usual purple and white ensemble was waiting for him back in his bedroom. Vash was of a similar mind set, he had his cozy green jacket, another pair of black pants, and his favorite white beret sitting in his room, waiting for him to change instead of wearing wet clothes for the rest of the evening.

They went their separate ways, headed to their own rooms for a change of clothes and a little privacy from the girls. Vash walked at a dauntingly slow pace, cautious of the fact that he might wear himself out, after earlier he wasn't willing to take any chances. By the time he reached his door, Roderich was already in his room, and Vash was standing in the hall alone.

Pushing the door open slowly, Vash walked into his room. Sitting on the end of the bed in a very neat fashion was a dry change of clothes, probably set out by one of the maids. It was not, however, the clothes he expected. Somewhere in that time they were asleep, the house staff must have found time to wash and dry his shirt and coat, because the pink shirt stared him in the face like red hots on a snicker doodle. Beside them was his other pair of blank pants, looking clean and pressed like they hadn't just come out of his suitcase. It was convenient, but a little creepy, but at least it took the guess work out of finding his clothes, or how Lilli would react if she never got to see him in the shirt she'd made him.

With an exasperated sigh that leaked past the smile that stuck on his lips, Vash pulled the shirt on and slowly buttoned it up, leaving the top button undone as he had earlier. He then stripped his damp black pants off in exchange for the dry ones that were sitting on the end of his bed. It felt good to pull on some dry clothes. Even after spending an afternoon by the fire drying off, it wasn't as nice as just putting on some fresh clothes. He had to wonder if Roderich's clothes had been taken care of for him as well, but the more he thought on it, the more he doubted it. Roderich hadn't taken his shirt off when they entered the house, and therefore it couldn't have been washed. Roderich would be back in his usual, which didn't come as a surprise, but it was a little upsetting when Vash considered that he would be the only one wearing something different from the ordinary.

As he reached for his jacket to pull it on, the doors to his room came open and Roderich stood in the door way, staring at him. Vash turned to look back at him, but by the time he had focused his gaze on the purple jacket the Austrian was back to wearing, Roderich had pulled it off and set it in a chair nearby. Vash seemed a little confused at such an action, after all, they'd just gotten dressed, but he figured Roderich had a reason for it, whatever that reason might be. He just pulled his jacket on and rolled his eyes at the Austrian that was standing in his room.

Roderich locked the door to the bedroom without a word, a curious look on his face. He almost seemed frustrated, bothered by something that had happened in the few minutes he'd been alone in his bedroom. Vash opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, to try and understand why his bedroom door had just been locked with them both inside, but he didn't get the chance. Roderich rushed from the door to Vash and slipped a hand under the blonde's chin, pulling their lips together. There was no chance to break free, to protest. Vash wasn't particularly bothered by the idea, he didn't want to scramble away like he might have before, but he was confused as to the haste Roderich showed in kissing him.

Slowly, the Austrian pulled his lips free, searching for words to explain his actions. "I don't want to eat with the girl's tonight. They had their day together, we should get ours." He whispered before pressing his lips to Vash's once more, his left hand resting on the smaller mans hip while his right hand moved from Vash's chin to his other side. Vash put his arms slowly up around the Austrian's neck, his hands resting on the back of Roderich's shoulders. Without much warning, they both slowly moved in the direction of Vash's bed, never once bothering to break the kiss. It was warm, full of pleasurable passion, their kiss. Neither of them wanted it to end.

Within a moment, Vash felt his back hit the soft pillow top cushion of his bed. Roderich leaned over him, reluctantly pulling his lips away and looking into Vash's eyes in search of a response. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Confusion, lust, a twinge of anger, a pinch of embarrassment, it was all in his eyes as Vash scooted back a little on his elbows until he had everything above his knees on the bed so that he was no longer awkwardly arching his back to lay even partly on the bed. Roderich immediately took advantage of it, moving to lie on the bed beside Vash. He leaned over the blonde on his knees, moving their lips together once more. His right hand roamed along the buttons of the pink shirt toward the collar. Slowly, ever so slowly, he undid the first button Vash had put together. He paused, waiting for a reaction for only a moment before he moved onto the next; unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time.

Within a moment, he had the pink fabric apart, revealing Vash's under shirt. A blush began to rise on the Swiss man's cheeks, but he didn't fight it, he only waited. He was almost disappointed as Roderich's lips once more left his, but he was thankful for the chance to finally breathe. Roderich's warm breath slid along the back of his neck like a snake, and Vash couldn't resist a shiver as goose bumps crawled up his arms. The dark haired Austrian seemed ignorant of such a reaction, and pressed his lips to the Swiss boy's neck. Vash shivered once more, but he didn't push him off, though hesitant words rested on his lips.

"Don't you think the girl's will be suspicious?" he asked softly, a soft shaking in his voice as he spoke, almost afraid that Roderich would take it as a request to stop when that was not his intention. He was still a little confused, slightly concerned about what was going on, but that did not mean he wanted Roderich to stop in the least bit. Still, Roderich's lips left his neck and he stared into Vash's eyes for a short moment, searching for the right response.

"Even if they are, they can't stop us. I locked the door for a reason." Roderich whispered before he moved his lips back to Vash's. Outside the room, the rain continued to pound against the window. Somewhere behind the clouds, the sun had begun to set, leading the boys into a very long evening together.


	12. Some Guests

_So Sorry to everyone for the wait. I know you all missed it, and I'm sure you're probably a bit upset to have waited so long, but I'm back. I apologize for the wait, senior year took my life away for a while (I'm sure you'll all understand). To make up for it, I made sure this chapter is extra special, and you can bet I'll have the next up by this weekend._

_Please enjoy! Lots more trouble to come shortly!_

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In the dark of the night, the covers on the bed rustled. Vash turned back and forth, Roderich's arms wrapped tight around his mid section, but it was no use, he couldn't sleep. Slowly, he sat up and leaned his back against the head board of the bed, the sheets strategically strewn across his lap. Beside him, Roderich slept in silence, his chest rising and falling lightly at every breath, his dark hair in tangled layers around his face. Vash's own yellow tufts of hair were messy and pointing off in every which direction like the main character in a video game. If he'd had a mirror then perhaps he would have bothered to brush his hair down, but as it was he really just wanted to go back to bed so he saw no point. He tried to shut his eyes and reach for another moments rest, but it seemed so useless. He knew when he woke up, there was no point in trying to go back to sleep.

Sighing softly, Vash wiggled his way out of Roderich's arms, careful not to wake him. The Austrian beside him moaned and groaned and groped to keep Vash at his side, but he didn't wake up. The Swiss man leaned over him with a gentle kiss on his forehead before he went for his clothes. Even when they'd gone to 'bed' he'd thrown all his clothes about in a strategic manner. His pants were the closest to him so he could get those on first without a worry. Looking out the window, he knew that the girls would still be asleep, and hopefully so would most of the house staff, so he might get away with wandering the house for a bit.

He dressed quietly, using the chair in the corner to lean against for support instead of the bed so that he wouldn't wake Roderich. He didn't bother with a full shirt for once, he was happy enough to just wear his button down un-tucked, and unlike usual he didn't bother with shoes to wander around the house. Roderich was a very clean person just as Vash was; there would be no excuse for any dirt to be rolling around that house, so he trusted it would be clean enough for his bare feet. Before, well, he hadn't trusted Roderich enough, but something had changed in him over those last few days, something he couldn't really explain in real words.

Barely dressed and shoeless, Vash slowly opened the door, careful not to make any noise that might wake his sleeping friend. He was just as cautious with shutting the door before he slowly made his way down the hall toward the stairs, glancing through open doors and occasionally stopping to look at the paintings on the wall. One of them in particular brought him to a halt. It was a memory, something he barely even bothered with remembering very often, but the sight of the painting made him stop and think. It was an old snow covered hill, foot prints stepped deep into its icy casing and frozen solid from the night before. There was a glow of sunlight painted across the glistening snow, though the sky was still painted black as night. They'd been marching home from Hungary's that night, Roderich dragging his injured feet along through the snow while Vash helped him along. It seemed so very long ago, those memories, but he struggled to remember the life they'd had together before.

Vash forced himself to turn away, reaching his hand up to his hair to brush it out of his face. He stroked his back through it then ran it down to the ends, his palm touching lightly against his cheek. He seemed shocked, confused. His cheek was damp; the way it was only when he cried, but why would he have begun to cry like that? They were wonderful memories, things he longed for more than once, but to cry? He couldn't possibly begin to understand what about it moved him to tears in such a way.

With a soft sigh on his lips, Vash headed down the hall once more; turning round a corner and down a new path he had not yet taken in his stay at the house. One, intriguing, very peculiar figure once again brought his steps to a halt. Before a door, a fair distance down the way was Japan. Vash stared at him. Of all the other countries to be in Roderich's home, Honda seemed the least likely. Germany would make sense, even Italy or Prussia, but Japan? That just seemed strange and completely out of the ordinary. The two stood and stared at each other from their fair distance down the hall, both short on words. Vash was too confused to make a clear sentence, not that he liked to talk anyways, and Honda seemed just as quiet. It took a long while before the Japanese man bowed politely and pulled a faint smile to his lips, finding the proper words of welcome.

"Oh, Swiss-san. You must be Austria-san's special guest. He offered me a room here next to Germany-san for the world conference." Honda explained in far fewer words than Vash thought possible. He was looking for a free thorough explanation, but that wasn't Honda in the least bit. He should have known that, they both were very much alike: always watching, wordlessly waiting for an opportunity. The biggest difference was Vash had a temper, and a bad one. Honda was never so hot headed.

"I suppose. I'd assume that means you'll be here for the next few days?" Honda nodded to his question, which was answer enough, before he bowed politely and headed off down the hall. If Honda was there, then it was only reasonable to assume that Ludwig was there, and if so then talking to one of his level headed relatives may have been a good way to clear his mind. Vash paused at the thought, Ludwig was there, which meant either the two were still living together or Roderich had invited him. How had he not noticed any of this before? What if Roderich was occupying his time while Vash was sick with Ludwig? His head spun, the thought made him sick.

Hastily, Vash turned away from Honda and headed back toward his room, not bothering to disguise his rather obnoxious foot stomping as he headed back beyond the door to find Roderich sitting up, rubbing eyes in a sleepy manner. Without thinking what he was doing, without caring that he'd left the door wide open, Vash threw himself onto Roderich and locked lips with him. He was forceful, somewhat angry in his movements. The Austrian stared back in confusion and surprise, but he didn't try to stop it or ask. When Vash kissed you, you shut up and treasured the moment, no matter the reason. It took a long moment for Vash to finally control himself and pull away, staring at the Austrian beneath him with a mix of anger and sorrow. It was hard to tell just how he was reacting, but to Roderich he mostly looked sad, which only made the dark haired boy worried and confused. It wasn't like Vash to intentionally start a lover's quarrel, but then again, it wasn't like Vash to have lovers.

"You don't taste like a German…" Vash muttered softly, hardly loud enough for Roderich to hear. He slowly backed off and crawled back to the other end of the bed, leaning his back against the bed post while he pulled his feet under him. The most Roderich could do was stare at him, dumbstruck. Had Vash really just said that? Where could he possibly have gotten that idea?

And then it hit him and he understood exactly why Vash must have been so angry and confused. He sighed softly and crawled over to Vash, reaching in to kiss him gently, only to have the Swiss man push him away roughly, enough that he fell out of the bed and onto the floor, pulling half the blankets down with him. With a rough bang he smacked his head on the carpeted floor and stared up to the blonde, whom looked both concerned and even more angered than before. Roderich sighed, slowly moving to sit up on his elbow while his other hand wandered to the back of his head, rubbing at the bump cautiously with the occasional stuttered complaint. It took a long moment before he gave up and looked back to Vash, still leaning over the edge of the bed, but far less concerned than when Roderich first fell, especially now that he knew the Austrian was alright.

"Who did you run into?" Roderich asked hesitantly, his expression laden with guilt. However he found out, that's not what was intended in the least bit. The plan was that they all have a nice breakfast together, that way Vash wouldn't be angry and jump to conclusions; then they could have a respectable conversation instead of kiss fights and pushing each other off the bed. That certainly was not what Roderich had wanted.

"Honda," Was Vash's only response. His words were cold, like a hard slap to the face from an ex; something Roderich did all he could not to take it personally in their situation. The blonde folded his arms over his chest roughly and proceeded to pout while is friend on the floor struggled for a response.

"Vash, I didn't want you to find out like thi-"

"Were you planning on telling me at all?" his green eyes darted to Roderich, frustrated and a bit hurt. His tone said injured, his face still said angered.

"Of course, I just hadn't had the opportunity. They showed up the other day while you were sick in bed, and they were out all day yesterday with the girls and…"

"You sent Lilli out shopping with him?" His tone sounded enraged suddenly at the idea. If there was one thing Roderich should have known, it was how much Vash cared about little Liechtenstein. Therefore, he should have known better than to mention that the smaller blonde had been out with Ludwig; that certainly wasn't something that would ever cheer up Vash.

"Vash, please, hang on. I didn't know about it until late last night. The girls were together, and they just happened to run into Ludwig and Honda in town, it wasn't intended at all." Roderich paused, cowering back slightly until Vash's expression began to soften, even the smallest bit. He ever so slowly moved to stand, raising his hand to the back of his head once more where he felt the knot beginning to develop; he'd certainly be feeling that the rest of the day. "Look, Vash, I know you're not happy about it but please listen. They're my guests for the time being. I'm just trying to play the good host; I didn't mean to upset you with their being here, honest."

"Why are they here? Ludwig doesn't live far away, and I'm supposed to be your guest, so why are they here and not there?" Vash questioned, turning his gaze away sharply so he could continue to uphold his angered appearance.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden? Why does it matter? Do you think I did something stupid like cheat on you?" Roderich asked, a new round of confusion and uncertainty furrowing his brow, though the idea made him frustrated to consider. The long moment of silence that followed was all the answer that he needed. Suddenly he was infuriated, staring at Vash with a great deal of contempt. "I can't believe you; I thought you knew me better than that! Why on god's green earth would you so much as think that?"

Vash paused, his anger subsiding when he heard Roderich's response. It had been a very, very long time since the calm Austrian had ever been angry about anything, so Vash knew from the look on his face that he'd royally screwed up. The Austrian was right, he should have known better. Biting his lower lip, Vash slowly moved away from the bed post and slid his feet over the edge, dangling while he considered what he had done. He had to at least try to set things straight, after all, he didn't mean to evoke that kind of a reaction; he'd only been looking for answers. He slowly moved off the bed and reached for Roderich, but just as his hand graced Roderich's arm, the Austrian pulled back, staring at him.

"I need some time alone." With that Roderich grabbed up his clothes, pulled on one of the bathrobes sitting on the chair in the corner, and left the room, not bothering to say another word to Vash, who stood staring at the open door in silence.

Things certainly were not going as he expected.


	13. Why is She Always Right?

_I didn't take six months! XD_

_This ones a bit longer than I meant it to be, but it's worth it. Enjoy!_

_Quick translation: "Bruder, ich lieb sie..." means "Brother, I love you..."_

* * *

The hours passed by in silence once Roderich left. Vash did very little for a long while, only occasionally groaning, lifting his head from his knees, or shaking his head. Time crept by very slowly the longer he waited for word; all hours laden with guilt. It was a time of self reflection, in which the proud Swiss man took as an opportunity to hide his face in a pillow and curse his own mistakes. As the time passed, his anger toward himself grew to worry, then fear, which finally found him lying face down in the mountain of pillows on his bed, tears threatening with every passing moment.

How could he have ever been so stupid? He should have known better, Roderich wouldn't betray him, and the more he looked at it, it wasn't really betrayal even if he had; after all, when did they become official? Switzerland was under the assumption that after last night they were official, but just because he thought so didn't mean much, the Austrian's traditions might be far less strict than the expectations of the Swiss. He wanted to take it back and forget it had ever happened, but his pride forced him to lie on the bed, making only slight whimpers and distasteful grunts.

He should go looking for Roderich, try to apologize for the misconception, but his pride tied him to the bed like a thick set of chains. He couldn't admit he'd made a mistake, but if he continued to sit there and stare at the sheets he might as well forget about a repeat of last night. Of all the stupid things! Vash groaned and hid his face in a pillow, yelling into the soft feathers and fabric that muffled his sound for a short while. As his noise subsided, a soft knock echoed from the door. His heart skipped a beat. What if it was Roderich? What if he'd heard? The blonde mentally smacked himself as the door creaked open. He sat up, staring to the half open door as the figure from the other side came into view. At the sight of the pink skirt, he sunk into a greater depression. Lilli had heard him, and once more, he was pissed at himself for not being excited to see her.

A sigh on his lips, Vash forced himself to sit up slowly, struggling for a moment against the mental weight that told him to continue to pout until Roderich came around. He kicked his feet over the end of the bed and stood on the area rug in a wobbly fashion, uneasy with everything that seemed to be going on. He had to keep up a smile that, he couldn't let Lilli know how upset he was, or that life was not turning out as peachy for him as she might have thought. He didn't want to let his problems rest on his sister, he had to smile and act like nothing was wrong. He paused while he struggled to maintain his balance before he approached Lilli with a smile, doing his best to seem like his usual self.

The look on her face said he wasn't doing a very good job. Her face was red with embarrassment, yet her confusion and worry furrowed her brows, causing Vash to stand back a moment and stare at her quizzically. He looked her over to see what exactly it was that bothered her, or to understand why she'd come up, when his eyes fell upon the silver tea tray in her shaking hands. On it sat a small plate of small tea sandwiches and steaming muffins, along with a tea pot and two porcelain cups of a matching design. Was it really that late already?

Vash looked back up to his sister's eyes, trying to read her thoughts, to understand the meaning of all this before she said a word, but her blush only grew and her shaking increased, harsh enough that plates and porcelain cups chattered against the silver tray in a rather bothersome fashion. Trying to avoid catastrophe, Vash gently took the tray from her hands and walked over to the couch up against the wall where he set the tray on an end table beside it. Free of the distraction, he moved back over to his younger sister and took her right hand in his left before gently resting his right hand on her forehead. It wasn't often she shook in such a way, and he was afraid that in all her worrying over him the last few days she may have fallen ill. Her face was warm, but no more than usual, at least as far as he could tell. He sighed softly and met her gaze, staring into her green eyes in a worried manner just as he usually would.

"Lilli? Is something wrong?" Vash asked gently. His sister said nothing, only shook her head and turned her gaze to the ground. Vash sighed softly, moving his hand that had been on her forehead to her chin before he pulled her face upward gently, forcing her to meet his gaze again. "Lilli? Did something happen?"

Again there was no response, but Vash decided pressing her for answers would not work at the moment. Instead, he pulled his right hand back from her face and gently led her over to the couch, her hand still shaking in his grasp. He couldn't understand her, he wasn't scary, she wasn't ill, and the room was warm, so why she shook he didn't know. Reaching the white upholstered furniture, Vash encouraged his sister to sit while poured them both some tea and set the plate of food on the coffee table in front of them. Liechtenstein sat in silence while he moved about, fixing her tea the way she liked with a dash of sugar. He handed her the cup, being careful not to spill any before he moved to his own cup, in which he thoughtlessly dumped nearly half the sugar into before he sat down beside his sister, aimlessly stirring his drink with the tea spoon.

The siblings sat in silence for a long while. It wasn't the same as dinner the other night or breakfast on the day this had all started, it was far more depressing and nerve racking than either of those times they'd sat down together. The only sound in the room was the clinking of the metal spoon against the side of the porcelain, which eventually grew annoying and Vash stopped to take a sip of his tea. Lifting his gaze over the rim of his cup, Switzerland watched his sister country, who continued to stare at the amber liquid without ever once thinking to drink it. Her eyes looked sad, sadder than Vash was accustomed to. Even the ribbon in her hair drooped in a depressed fashion, as if it too wanted to cry. Why was she so melancholy? Had Elizavetta scolded her for making muffins in the kitchen or something? But that seemed so unlikely, no one ever found reason to scold dear Lilli, not even Elizavetta had ever found anything wrong with the things she did.

He'd never seen her like that, sure he'd seen Liechtenstein avoiding his gaze, or he'd seen her being particularly quiet, but he'd never seen his dear sister so close to tears. Hesitantly, he lowered the cup of tea from his lips and set it on the coffee table, watching his sister silently. That's when he saw; a single water droplet slid off her cheeks and splashed in her tea, forming ripples along its surface just as his gun had at the pond a few days before. Slowly, cautiously, Vash slid the cup free of her trembling hands and set it on the coffee table as well before pulling her in close to him, his firm grasp wrapped around her shoulders. At that, Lilli broke down and Vash hushed her in calming tones, waiting for her to say something, to explain just what had brought her to tears.

The silence of the room was still uneasily clinging to the back of Vash's thoughts, only growing painfully worse when broken by the hushed hiccups of his sister's tears. Whatever had happened, whatever he'd done, he had to make it right, he had to protect her from whatever would make his precious Lilli cry. Brushing a hand gently down her hair, Vash waited it out, the questions resting on his lips, but he held back, waiting.

Finally, her tears lessened, her convulsive hiccups slowed to a stop, and she lifted herself slightly off his shoulder to wipe her damp eyes. Vash beat her to it, gently using the back of his index finger to dry the tears from beneath her eyes. After so long, her eyes met his again, and she suddenly looked like she might start crying again before Vash shook his head, kissing her forehead and pulling her in close. He could be a good older brother when he wanted to be, he knew how to cheer her up, how to make things right, he just had to wait long enough before he started asking questions. Now that she wasn't crying, it was a good time.

Pulling Liechtenstein to sit nearly on his lap, he cooed and rocked her for another minute or so before he asked again, "What's wrong?"

There was a pause of hesitation, and Lilli hiccupped again, but she didn't launch back into a fit of tears, instead she leaned her head on her older brother's chest, staring at his black t-shirt. He'd finished getting dressed about an hour after Roderich had left that morning, having gone through a spur of excited expectation, thinking he should be decent should Roderich come back to apologize. In the end it was pointless and a false hope, but at least he was fully dressed for Lilli when she came around.

"Why don't you cry anymore?" Liechtenstein finally muttered, her fingers laced in the black fabric of his shirt tensing only slightly. Perhaps out of fear, perhaps concern, she braced herself for whatever Vash's reaction might be.

At her words, Vash paused himself, his smile faltering shortly while he thought her question over. That previous, pained feeling he'd had before she'd showed up returned, making him cringe and force back his pained expression once more. Lilli had never asked him to cry, but he wasn't sure she'd ever truly seen him cry either (excluding the scene a few days before, he wanted to forget that had ever happened). He didn't have much of a response to that, he couldn't tell her he didn't want to cry anymore after all, she might just burst into tears again and he couldn't bear to see that again. Twice in four days was enough to make his heart melt, he couldn't stand to see her cry again, it might just kill him, so instead he went for another response.

"What are you talking about? I cry all the ti—"

"No you don't! You cry for Austria, you cry for me, but I haven't seen you cry for yourself!" Lilli interrupted; her tone was suddenly harsh, upset in a whole new way than before. Vash backed off slightly at her words, afraid she too was angry at him. He didn't say anything in response; afraid she might yell at him again, he hung his head and waited. "Bruder, ich liebe Sie, but… you're an idiot." That felt like a slap to the face, well deserved, but it still kind of hurt.

Vash stared at the ground for a long moment, stunned and short on words. He hadn't been expecting her to say that, usually Lilli was so soft and sweet, hearing her insult him honestly, physically, hurt. He couldn't just sit there in silence, but he was absolutely stunned, after all, what was he supposed to say? His mind whirled; her words were not only the painful truth, but they reminded him of just why she was so adamant about it all, why she wanted to see him cry. He'd hurt Roderich's feelings, hadn't he? And it was his fault.

In a matter of seconds after he came to that realization the world seemed to crash down on him. Reality suddenly came a calling with that horrible reminder of earlier, that heart wrenching feeling of guilt, contempt, rage, fear, every emotion in the book. It was like his sister's insult had just broken him, because without a word Vash bowed his head low till his forehead hit her shoulder and the tears started to run. Of all the times for him to break down, why did it have to be there, with Lilli watching? There was no stopping it, his shoulders lifted at random while he sniffled and wept. There was a reversal of roles in that moment. Instead of Vash playing the strong older brother, it was Lilli who held him and rubbed a hand along his back, whispering gentle, calming words to quiet him.

* * *

Down the hall, Roderich reached the top of the stairs beside his relative and friend, chatting quietly about their German heritage as they proceeded at a slow pace down the hall. Ludwig was making an attempt at convincing him that pork sausage was far better than veal, but Roderich seemed elsewhere. His mind was wandering, thinking about Vash, wondering if he'd been too harsh. He'd been distracted like that all night, and apparently Ludwig had noticed. As he finished his sentence, the German paused and looked to the dark haired Austrian. He gave up trying to say something, it wasn't worth it, so they continued up the hall silently until a soft whimpering sound reached their ears.

Roderich moved closer to the door to Vash's room, wondering if that was him crying. Ludwig only smiled slightly, knowing Roderich's concern fully.

"I'll leave you alone for a bit, yeah?" Ludwig remarked. He didn't wait for a response from the Austrian before heading down the hall in search of his Japanese friend that was hiding out somewhere in the house. He left Roderich standing in the hall, listening to the heart breaking sound of Vash's crying.

He sighed and moved into the doorway, looking about the room to find the two blonde's sitting on the couch against the wall. His eyes met Lilli who silently nodded, barely moving enough for her brother to notice. Roderich nodded back and took a hesitant step closer just as Vash hiccupped another cry into his sister's dress. Roderich could feel his heart breaking the more he heard his Swiss man cry. He couldn't help but feel concerned.

From his place just a step inside the doorway, Roderich nervously moved his right hand up to grip his left arm just above the elbow. Lilli watched him in silence, Vash still ignorant of his presence.

"Vash… are you alright?" The Austrian questioned softly, turning his gaze to the ground. The crying stopped, the hiccups and whimpers ceased.

The room was eerily silent.


	14. fingers on the Keys

_So, this is going to be the big finale. I worked hard to make it fit everyone's expectations without being predictable so... hope everyone likes it._

_Few quick things I have to say: I finished just so we could have this cuteness on Valentines day. ( :_

_I also want to give a quick thanks for the reviews from all my avid readers. I love hearing from you guys, and you can bet I'll want more comments! Keep Reviewing!_

_Last real thing for me is I'm sorry I'm so lazy! This has been half done for like... a month. I'm glad I finally sat down to write the end. For anyone that still loves my writing despite my laziness, I am hoping to do a valentines day set for the month of February so if you're interested definitely keep reading (I like having followers!)_

_Love loves and hope everyone enjoys._

_Ta Ta for now._

_-Mina_

* * *

Slowly, the blonde lifted his head from his sister's sleeve and looked up to the Austrian. Roderich stared back. Vash dried the tears from his cheeks for a short moment before he turned back to the Austrian. The silence held a moment longer, then tension growing. Hesitantly, Lilli looked between her brother and friend, unsure what she should expect from either side. Vash's face was steadily changing from heartbroken to enraged, and Roderich's kind smile was beginning to falter. Their expressions continued to change until they both held the same angered expressions on their faces.

As Vash stood, Lilli paused, sitting uneasily on the couch while the boys moved closer together, hands clenched at their sides. Between them, Vash looked the angriest, his face turning a light shade of red as he stared down the dark haired man before him. Lilli could tell he was actually trying to be as angry as he was, he probably just wanted to go back to crying, but Roderich probably didn't see it the way she did. In fact, the look on his face looked almost like he was about to…

Hurriedly, Lilli jumped up from her seat and ran to her brother, grabbing his right hand in hers just as he lifted it. She pulled his arm back to his side, causing his glare to fall on her. "Vash, don't. Please." She asked softly, her soft eyes meeting his gaze for a moment before he looked away and pulled his arm free rather roughly.

"This has nothing to do with you Lilli." Vash remarked bitterly, only Roderich seemed to disagree with him.

"She's only trying to stop you from doing something stupid Vash."

"I didn't ask you!"

"I don't need permission to speak in my own house."

"You do when this is my problem! I can shoo my sister out if I want!"

"Just leave her alone. I'm the one you're mad at; don't take it out on her."

"Do you want me to hit you?"

"Were you going to hit me before? I'd certainly prefer that you hit me instead of her if that's what you're thinking."

"You're such an aristocrat. I'll hit you if I want to hit you!"

"Do you want to?"

"Of course, you cheating ass!"

Roderich sighed softly at that and held his arms out wide in surrender. He was allowing Vash to hit him. At that, all the blonde could do was stare, his want to hit the man before him faded and he only stared at the Austrian like he was a complete loony.

"I thought you wanted to hit me?" Roderich asked softly.

"I did, but not if you won't fight back." Vash remarked, his tone still harsh as he turned his gaze away from the Austrian and down to the floor.

"You won't take a free shot? Isn't that just like you? Instead of taking what's sitting right in front of you, you go searching out some idiotic, illegitimate way to hurt me." Roderich hissed, his anger growing. "Just like how you go searching out some stupid reason to be upset with me when you know damn well I'd never cheat. Instead of being angry about the other things you know are right in front of you, you have to be angry about your assumptions!"

Vash didn't look up at him; he didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't like he'd intentionally gone looking for a reason to fight with Roderich; he'd just blown things out of proportion. But, wasn't Roderich doing the same? He was getting angry about a mistake, a bad assumption, so much so that he barely even looked at Vash. The love wasn't there, a thought that made Vash stare as if completely lost, wishing he knew what to say. Lilli stood back in silence. She was afraid to leave, afraid her brother would do something he didn't mean to do. She looked to him worriedly, watching his eyes to see that uncertainty, the sadness; he couldn't hurt Roderich, he wouldn't. She trusted him, believed in him, they needed that time to themselves to figure this out; Lilli didn't want to get in the way.

Slowly, the small girl crept out of the room, closing the bedroom door behind her. The room echoed with silence for a long moment after her disappearance. Roderich turned to follow her out, short on anything else to say to Vash, but that firm hand grasped his wrists, holding him from moving another inch. The aristocrat sighed, looking down to the blonde before him with a shake of his head.

"That's enough Vash. You've already proved you want nothing to do with me." Roderich muttered, trying to pull his wrist free, but those fingers grappled and held strong, refusing to release him if the world depended on it. "Enough. I'm not kicking you out, you're permitted to stay until the repairs are done, but I'm done playing your little games. I won't be a host to the unappreciative. Now let go, I have other things to-"

Vash glared at him for a long moment as the Austrian spoke, but it all seemed to go right over his head. Suddenly, before Roderich could even finish, Vash smashed his lips to the dark haired boys and held him there for a moment. Roderich scrambled, pushing against the blonde's chest, begging for freedom, but Vash was stronger, more capable of holding him than Roderich was capable of pushing him away. After a few minutes fighting, he gave in, sinking into his Switzerland's arms, into that sweet kiss. But just as it felt good, just as Roderich felt his anger subsiding, Vash pulled away and met his gaze. Those strong green eyes, locked on the Austrian's pleading purple orbs.

"I fucked up, okay? That doesn't mean I ever stopped wanting you." Vash whispered softly, releasing his grasp on Austria's wrist and moving his hand up to cup that pale cheek against the palm of his hand. There was a moment of registered shock and uncertainty in the Aristocrat's eyes before he nodded silently and stepped back, out of the blonde's grasp, free from the heart break, the confusion, (the unfortunate excessive dose of lust.) Vash followed him with his eyes as Roderich moved over to sit on the piano bench in the middle of the room. The Austrian appeared so lost, as if he both wanted to kiss the man before him and to smack him. Neither one would be a particular surprise.

Vash bit his lip and moved over slowly, watching Roderich's expression every step he took to make sure he didn't cross any invisible boundaries. He was supposed to be the neutral country, Vash Never started Wars, was never even a part of them, he could not handle the idea of starting anymore arguments with Austria. The closer he came, the more nervous he was, but his little Austrian gave no indication for him to stop, that he'd stepped just a little too far.

"Look I… I jumped to conclusions and I know that it was wrong. I probably should have asked before I assumed you were…" the blonde paused at the thought, cringing slightly before he moved on, "And I'm sorry for that but… I don't like even having a reason to think that of you."

"Vash." Roderich muttered. He wanted to say something more, wanted to tell Vash it was entirely his fault things had come to that, that his excuses were a load of crap, or that Roderich wasn't really trying to hide anything from him, but he shook his head. There was no reason to do that, no reason to fight about something trivial, blame wasn't worth the trouble, so he just nodded and motioned to the seat beside him so the little blonde Swiss man could sit. "Thank you."

"For what?" Vash asked gently, taking the open seat and slipping his hand into Roderich's.

The Austrian smiled, shaking his head as if ashamed in a playful manner before pulling Vash's hand over onto his knee. "You're such an idiot sometimes." Roderich remarked, laughing softly to himself for a moment, his glasses sliding down his nose while he tried to hide his laughter behind his free hand.

"Well you're a pansy, but I'm not laughing at you." Switzerland muttered defensively. He didn't expect Roderich would insult, he didn't think there was any need, but for some reason his Austrian had jumped at the chance to comment on his momentary lack of intelligence. The aristocrat pulled on an even greater smile and shook his head once more. He could see in those green eyes that hurt, he certainly hadn't meant it that way.

"No Vash, your innocence is the cutest part of you."

"But I'm not—"

"Just shut up and kiss me." Vash nodded slightly and reached forward, pressing his lips to the Austrian's. He slipped his left hand around to the brunette's side, his right hand on his lover's other side, slowly edging forward the longer they kissed. Within moments, Roderich slowly found himself leaning back, his lips pressed tight against Vash's in a warm, forgiving kiss. Vash slowly edged his left leg in between the Austrian's leg, kneeling on the bench, straddling Roderich's right leg. The blonde leaned forward a little more, pushing his brunette back another inch.

_Bang. Ting. Click._

Roderich groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he pulled his lips free of Vash. Everything had seemed so perfect, but they'd forgotten one little thing about being on the piano bench: the piano was behind them. Concerned for only a moment, Vash slipped a hand behind his back and helped the Austrian back to a sitting position, biting his lips to keep in his fit of laughter. There was a long moment of silence while Roderich sat rubbing at the lump forming on the back of his head and Vash tried so hard not to laugh before he broke, gasping out long, over bearing fits of laughter simultaneously. Within minutes he was rolling on the floor like a dying bug, feet in the air with his knees bent and hands over his stomach. His appearance itself seemed so humorous, even Roderich seemed unable to keep from joining him.

Sometimes, it felt good to just laugh. The laughed like that for a good while, considering the humor of their situation, the stupidity of their actions, and only rolling around with another round of it the more they tried to think. In the end, the only thing that seemed to shut them up was when Roderich rolled right on top of Vash and landed his lips against the blonde's neck. He solicited a gasp of excitement before the Swiss man pushed him away and coughed into his hand, trying to hide the bright red tint on his cheeks. There was no hiding it, but Roderich made no sign that he'd even noticed.

The two clambered to their feet and sat on the piano bench once more, side by side, hand in hand. They settled back into silence, but it was calm, peaceful. It was simply long.

* * *

Avoiding the Austrian's gaze for a moment, the small Swiss man turned on the piano bench without a word. The silence had to end eventually.

He slipped his hand free of Roderich's grasp and ran it lightly over the keys, trying to understand the instrument, to feel the things Roderich must have felt every time he sat down to play. His hands hovered; he was confused, nervous, concerned that he would make some stupid mistake. The only reassurance he had was the gentle touch of a hand against his shoulder. Slowly, Roderich stood and moved behind him, his arms over Vash's as he aligned his fingers just over the Swiss man's.

"The world's a piano, Vash. Play it as you play with the hearts of our countries." He whispered in the blonde's ear, blowing those corn-colored hairs away from his pale skin. Vash nodded the tinniest of nods before he moved his hand down to the keys and started to play, Roderich guiding, hovering over his fingers to make sure he did it right. At first, it was slow, shaken, honestly played like a small child might play, but there was a calm guidance behind him so it would turn out fine. Even as Roderich removed his arms from around the small country and sat down again, Vash was certain that he could continue. Even when Roderich started to play, playing something so perfect and beautiful next to Vash's pathetic scales, but it didn't matter.

As the music dimmed and slowed, Vash pulled his hands away, letting Roderich take the final note for himself. The Austrian looked to him and smiled. "You'll learn again someday. Beautiful music is at your finger tips."

"And a beautiful person is on my lips." Vash whispered softly, leaning over against Roderich and locking his lips to the Austrian's.

_The World's a Piano. I'll play it that way from now on._


End file.
